Bitcoin is currently trading around $73,000, but the factors behind this price require more caution.

On major futures trading platforms and options trading rooms, traders have increased their hedging positions and reduced their holdings of put options, resulting in greater downward pressure below the current price.

The context for futures open interest: post-peak recovery

The long-term trend in exchange Bitcoin futures open interest shows how strong its recovery is. Total public trading volume increased from about $30 billion in mid-2024 to nearly $100 billion by the end of 2025, when the price of Bitcoin exceeded $120,000, a record high.

The ensuing pullback caused open interest to drop significantly, reaching a low of around $40 billion in early 2026 before it began to recover and is currently rebuilding in the $45-50 billion range. Price and open interest are again moving in tandem, which traders often interpret as a better scenario. In other words, the market is recovering from the massive liquidation that occurred on October 10 last year.

Bitcoin options open interest on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is declining. The weekly chart shows an increase of 70,000 contracts at the peak in late 2025. The number then dropped sharply in early 2026, reaching 10,000 to 15,000 contracts by February, before picking up slightly in March and April. Open interest currently stands at about 20,000 contracts at the latest expiry, a fraction of last year’s peak.

But market structure is a more telling indicator. By contract type (calls and puts), the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) options market has tilted significantly toward puts since October 2025. USD-denominated put open interest rose to nearly $285 million in December 2025 and remained high until April 2026, while put open interest has all but disappeared and has been close to zero in recent weeks. Traders on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange are taking protective positions rather than betting on higher prices.

Across all exchanges, total open interest in Bitcoin options peaked at nearly $30 billion in late 2025 and is currently hovering within that range. On Deribit, the largest positions were concentrated at a $120,000 execution price in December 2026 and a $80,000 execution price in May 2026, with the $80,000 execution price setting a record for the largest daily trading volume on the OKX platform. Apparently, traders are setting price targets well above current levels.

Looking at the options market as a whole, the market is currently showing an upward trend. On Derebit, call options (betting on the price of Bitcoin) account for about 57%, which is 43% higher than put options (betting on the price of Bitcoin falling). Friday’s trading volume confirmed this trend, with the proportion of options bought reaching about 61% of trading volume, while the proportion of options sold did not exceed 39%.

Given that Bitcoin is currently trading at $73,000 and the biggest vulnerabilities are concentrated in the $70,000 to $72,000 range, the options market mechanism itself poses resistance. The question remains whether the spot market will be affected by these price levels, and the data clearly shows this pattern.

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