What Is Open Interest in Crypto Options?

Open interest in options is the total number of option contracts that have not yet been closed, expired or exercised. It rises when a new buyer and a new seller open a contract and falls when existing positions are closed. It differs from trading volume: volume counts contracts that changed hands during a period, while open interest counts contracts that are still alive.

By COINOTAG Research DeskLast updated October 5, 2026Sources

How it changes

When a new buyer and a new seller open a contract, open interest rises by one. When a position is closed, it falls. If an existing contract is simply transferred to another trader, open interest does not change. It is tracked by strike price and by expiry date.

Worked example

On day one a buyer purchases 100 contracts from a seller, so open interest is 100. On day two, 50 new contracts are opened and 20 are closed, so open interest becomes 100 + 50 − 20 = 130. The volume for day two is 50 + 20 = 70 contracts.

How to read it

Open interest concentrated at certain strikes shows where positions are building as expiry approaches, and it is the input for max pain. A rise does not say whether buyers or sellers dominate, because every contract has a counterparty. This text is educational and is not investment advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

3 questions

What is the difference between open interest and volume?

Volume counts contracts traded during a period. Open interest counts contracts that are still open at a given moment.

What does rising open interest mean?

New contracts are entering the market. It does not show whether buyers or sellers dominate, because each contract has a counterparty.

What happens to open interest at expiry?

Expired contracts end, so the open interest for that expiry falls to zero.

Related Terms

What is Crypto Options?
Crypto options are derivative contracts that give the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy (a call) or sell (a put) a cryptocurrency at a fixed strike price on or before an expiry date. The buyer pays a premium up front, and that premium is the maximum possible loss, while potential profit can be much larger. Calls profit when the price rises above the strike; puts profit when it falls below. Because risk is capped yet upside stays open, options let traders hedge holdings or speculate on price and volatility — most actively on Bitcoin and Ethereum — without committing their full capital to the position.
What is Max Pain in Crypto Options?
Max pain is the strike price at which the total payout owed to option buyers at expiry is at its lowest, meaning the largest number of options expire worthless. It is calculated separately for each expiry date from the open interest at every strike. Some traders watch it as a reference level because price sometimes drifts toward it near expiry, but it is an observation, not a rule.
What is the Put/Call Ratio in Crypto Options?
The put/call ratio is the number of put options divided by the number of call options over the same period, measured either by trading volume or by open interest. A value below 1 means calls outnumber puts, and above 1 means puts outnumber calls. It summarizes positioning rather than predicting direction, and because puts are often bought to protect long holdings, a high ratio alone does not mean traders expect a decline.
What is Option Expiry in Crypto?
Option expiry is the date and time at which an option contract stops being valid. At expiry the option either settles for its intrinsic value or expires worthless. Crypto options list daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly expiries, and most contracts are cash-settled. The settlement time is set in the contract specification, and 08:00 UTC is a common choice.
What is Trading Volume?
Trading volume is the total amount of an asset bought and sold over a set period, most often 24 hours. It is shown in units (how many BTC changed hands) or in currency (how many dollars), and it is the most basic measure of how much participation stands behind a price move.