A notable development occurred on Friday, highlighting the accelerating pace of institutional investment in the bitcoin market, an area that has been driven by individual investors for years. This is evident in the growth of options linked to BlackRock's bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), IBIT, which have now surpassed the total bitcoin options trading on the offshore platform Deribit. It is particularly noteworthy that IBIT options have closed the gap with Deribit's bitcoin options market in just two years, despite Deribit's head start since 2016. On Friday, the dollar value of open IBIT options contracts on Nasdaq, known as open interest, reached $27.61 billion, slightly exceeding the $26.90 billion in Deribit's bitcoin options, according to data from Volmex.
This milestone signifies that the regulated, institutional-grade bitcoin investment and derivatives infrastructure in the US is now on par with the offshore market. Furthermore, a thriving, regulated market in the US could encourage more Wall Street institutions to explore digital assets, ultimately leading to more mature price discovery. Deribit's Global Head of Retail Sales and Business, Sidrah Fariq, views IBIT's rise as a positive development for the broader crypto derivatives ecosystem.
"US retail investors cannot easily access platforms like Deribit, so iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) options provide them with direct access to regulated leverage and options exposure. This is further supported by the current macro environment, with supply chain uncertainty, energy shocks, and broader geopolitical risks, which naturally drives demand for hedging and options strategies," Fariq told CoinDesk. Options are derivative contracts that grant the purchaser the right to buy or sell the underlying asset at a predetermined price at a later date. Analysts use open interest as a measure of market size and participation, with higher open interest indicating a deeper and more liquid market.
Traders use options to hedge existing positions, speculate on price direction, and generate additional income on coin or ETF holdings. One popular income-generating strategy involving IBIT ETF and IBIT options is the covered call strategy, which allows investors to profit from BTC's implied volatility by simultaneously holding the ETF and shorting IBIT calls at levels well above the ETF's current market price. Although the two markets now match each other in scale, they are positioned differently, revealing insights into trader sentiment.
According to Volmex, the bulk of open interest in IBIT call options is concentrated at strike levels equivalent to bitcoin trading around $109,709, or roughly 41% above the current price of $77,400. In contrast, positioning in Deribit options is slightly more conservative, with call open interest clustered around levels equivalent to roughly $106,000 in BTC terms. The average expiry date for IBIT options is approximately two months longer than Deribit, suggesting that ETF holders are more patient and have a longer investment horizon.
Lastly, IBIT's implied volatility is higher than the implied volatility derived from Deribit's BTC options, which Volmex attributes to the demand for put options from ETF holders who cannot easily short bitcoin directly. Overall, IBIT's rapid rise in the options market is striking and now appears to rival Deribit in scale. However, the two are not direct substitutes, as IBIT options primarily cater to regulated, onshore investors, while Deribit remains the go-to platform for global investors. "I don't see this as competition.
If anything, it expands the market. As more participants get comfortable trading options via IBIT, it ultimately feeds into the broader ecosystem, and venues like Deribit benefit from increased sophistication and flow," Fariq said.