BlackRock IBIT options top Deribit volumes

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust overtook Deribit in bitcoin options open interest on Friday, according to CoinDesk, a first for the U.S.-listed fund. (coindesk.com) CoinDesk said IBIT options reached nearly $38 billion in open interest after Friday’s expiry, compared with about $32 billion on Deribit. Open interest counts outstanding contracts, not daily trading volume. (coindesk.com 1) (coindesk.com 2) Deribit still shows multibillion-dollar daily activity in bitcoin options. Its market-data page listed roughly $4.7 billion in 24-hour volume when crawled over the weekend. (deribit.com) The comparison matters because Deribit has been the dominant crypto options venue for years, while IBIT options only got U.S. approval in September 2024 and began listing in November 2024. (sec.gov) (cboe.com) IBIT’s rise has tracked the growth of the spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund itself. The Block said U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs passed $750 billion in cumulative trading volume just over a year after launch, with IBIT holding a 75% share by trading volume. (theblock.co) The Block had flagged this split months earlier, describing “parallel markets” in bitcoin options: regulated ETF options for institutions and crypto-native venues for offshore and specialist traders. (theblock.co) Cboe moved to build more market structure around that flow in March, when it said it would launch BITVX, a volatility index based on IBIT options using the same methodology family behind VIX. (cboe.com) The result is a bitcoin derivatives market with two centers: Deribit for crypto-native trading and IBIT for U.S. brokerage accounts, exchange clearing, and regulated options access. (theblock.co) (coindesk.com)