Crypto options: who lists what, and where the liquidity is
Data as of 26.09.2026 ≈ 16:40 UTC (public exchange APIs) unless another date is given next to a figure.
BTC and ETH options open interest: coins × current index, exchange APIs, 26.09.2026. The Deribit BTC bar is truncated. *Derive: the protocol's own statistics, see finding 4. CME is not shown: no separate options OI figure was found in a primary source.
Verdict. Crypto options trade on eight notable venues, but liquidity — long tenors, tight spreads on far strikes, real open interest — exists essentially only in BTC and ETH. Deribit carries roughly ten times the BTC open interest of the next venue. SOL, XRP, HYPE, AVAX and TRX with several months to expiry exist only on Deribit, and the exchange's own rules cap their longest expiry at about 4.7 months. BTC and ETH implied vol on Deribit, OKX and Bybit agrees within a point, so there is no "cheaper" venue to find: the differences are in far-strike spreads and counterparty quality. Gold options exist on Bybit (XAUT) and on OKX and Binance (weeklies only).
What it is
A map of every place you can buy or sell an option on a crypto asset: listed underlyings, tenor and actual liquidity. The key questions for anyone buying options months out: are long tenors available, can you get in and out cheaply on far strikes, and how sound is the counterparty.
Findings
1. No venue offers long-dated alt options — and that's an exchange rule, not a coincidence
On Deribit AVAX, HYPE, SOL, XRP and TRX get exactly one quarterly expiry, listed 4 months and 22 days ahead ("1 quarterly (listed 4 expiration months and 22 days before)"). So the longest SOL or HYPE call is always shorter than ~4.7 months. BTC and ETH, by contrast, have four quarterlies, the longest currently 24.09.2027. Under the same rule, the 26.03.2027 alt series should be listed around 04.11.2026. On Bybit, OKX and Binance the longest SOL, XRP and HYPE expiry is 30.10.2026. Derive has listed HYPE to 25.06.2027, but the series has neither quotes nor open interest: it's on the instrument list, there's no market in it.
Sources: Deribit, Contract Introduction Policy, updated 15.09.2026 · Deribit API get_instruments, Bybit instruments-info, OKX public/instruments, Binance exchangeInfo, Derive get_instruments / get_tickers — all 26.09.2026.
2. Vol is priced the same everywhere — switching venues for cheaper options makes no sense
Calls expiring 25.12.2026, same moment; exchange mark IV, %, nearest strike:
| Strike vs spot | Deribit | OKX | Bybit | Derive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BTC, ATM | 37.3 | 37.1 | 37.1 | — |
| BTC, +30% | 39.6 | 39.5 | 39.3 | — |
| BTC, +60% | 46.2 | 46.5 | 44.9 | — |
| ETH, ATM | 51.8 | 51.5 | 51.1 | 51.2 |
| ETH, +30% | 53.8 | 54.2 | 54.2 | 54.2 |
| HYPE, ATM | 56.9 | — | — | 58.3 |
| SOL, ATM | 53.3 | — | — | 53.5 |
At the money the gap is no more than 0.7 vol points; at +60% on BTC, 1.6 points. Market makers arb prices across venues, so the choice of venue comes down to spread, depth and counterparty, not the level of vol.
Sources: public APIs of Deribit, OKX (opt-summary), Bybit (tickers), Derive (get_tickers), 26.09.2026 ≈ 16:40 UTC. An independent aggregated cross-check (Coinglass) could not be obtained.
3. Alts and gold: what exists and how much money is in it
| Asset | Venue | Open interest | Longest expiry | 25.12 call spread, ATM / +30% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOL | Deribit (USDC) | $70M | 25.12.2026 | 2% / 5% |
| Bybit (USDT) | $14M | 30.10.2026 | — | |
| Derive | ≈ $17M* | 25.12.2026 | 100% / 95% — no market | |
| CME (options on futures) | not established | not established | — | |
| XRP | Deribit | $57M | 25.12.2026 | — |
| Bybit · Binance | $4.5M · $0.7M | 30.10.2026 | — | |
| HYPE | Deribit (since 23.06.2026) | $42M | 25.12.2026 | 5% / 9% |
| Derive | ≈ $280M* | 25.06.2027 (empty) | 5% / 19% | |
| Bybit (since 07.08.2026) | $3.8M | 30.10.2026 | — | |
| AVAX · TRX | Deribit | $16M · $16M | 25.12.2026 | — |
| Gold | Bybit, XAUT (since 12.06.2026) | $8.8M | 30.10.2026 | — |
| Derive, XAUT | ≈ $29M* | 25.12.2026 | — | |
| OKX, XAU · Binance, XAU | $0.6M · $0.05M | weeklies only, to 02.10.2026 | — | |
| Other | Bybit: DOGE, MNT, NVDA · Binance: BNB, DOGE, silver, oil · Derive: ADA, ZEC, AAVE and more | ≤ $3M each | ≤ 30.10.2026 (Derive ZEC — 26.03.2027) | — |
*Derive: the protocol's own count, coins × index.
A common liquidity filter for entering an instrument is $5M+ daily volume and $1M+ of depth within 2% on two venues. Outside BTC and ETH almost nothing passes. SOL on Deribit is borderline: $4.1M a day, and on a single venue. The filter was written for spot, so here it raises the question rather than setting a threshold.
Sources: exchange APIs, 26.09.2026; launch dates — Deribit Insights (HYPE) · CoinDesk, 16.06.2026 (XAUT) · Coinpaper (Bybit HYPE).
4. Derive's self-reported numbers are off from independent tracking by an order of magnitude
The protocol's own statistics for 26.09.2026 show ≈ $32M in daily premium volume: BTC $16.8M, ETH $10.6M, HYPE $4.2M. DefiLlama shows $2.19M over 24 hours for "Derive Options". Both can't be true. Live quotes show a shallow market: the spread on a 25.12 ETH +60% call is 22%, on SOL 63% to 100%. FalconX wrote of open interest above $1bn in March 2026 (BTC 79%, ETH 17%). Takeaway: Derive's open interest shouldn't be read as a liquidity measure until an independent source confirms it.
Sources: Derive API public/statistics, 26.09.2026 · DefiLlama options overview, 26.09.2026 · FalconX, March 2026.
5. Who the counterparty is, and what has already broken
| Venue | Regulation · owner | Incidents | Type · settlement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deribit | Deribit FZE, regulated operator; Coinbase since 14.08.2025 | daily proof of reserves removed from 01.09.2026; rules allow socialized losses | European; BTC/ETH inverse (in coin) and linear; alts in USDC |
| CME | US exchange, CFTC-regulated, central clearing; access via a futures broker | — | options on BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP futures (SOL and XRP since 13.10.2025) |
| OKX | regional licences | not checked in this review | BTC/ETH inverse |
| Bybit | regional licences (a full one since 09.10.2025) | 21.02.2025 ≈ $1.5bn in ETH stolen (Lazarus); the exchange stayed solvent | European, in USDT |
| Binance | not checked in this review | — | in USDT; naked selling on BTC/ETH only |
| Derive | on-chain, own chain | — | European, USDC |
| Aevo | on-chain | 12.12.2025 — legacy Ribbon vaults, $2.3–2.7M lost via an oracle left open after an upgrade | BTC, ETH to 24.09.2027; open interest < $10M |
| Hyperliquid | — | — | no options: HIP-3 is perps, HIP-4 (since 02.05.2026) is event contracts |
For on-chain venues the baseline requirement is an oracle pulling price from at least three exchanges (the Mango lesson, 2022). Aevo's incident belongs to exactly this class: an oracle configuration bug. For anyone holding long options for months, the counterparty matters more than half a vol point.
Sources: The Block (Coinbase–Deribit) · CoinDesk, 09.10.2025 (Bybit licence) · CNBC, 21.02.2025 · The Block (Aevo) · Yahoo Finance (CME SOL/XRP) · CoinGecko (HIP-3/4).
Rating per venue
| Venue | Rating | What revokes it |
|---|---|---|
| Deribit | usable, with limits | a socialized loss event · no reserves audit by 01.09.2027 |
| CME via a broker | yes — for BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP | the broker doesn't offer these options |
| OKX | with limits — BTC/ETH only | withdrawal halt · socialized losses |
| Bybit | with limits — BTC/ETH; XAUT only to 30.10 | another hack · loss of a key licence |
| Binance | with limits — BTC/ETH | daily turnover tiny relative to OI ($3.5M against $1.36bn on BTC) |
| Derive | with limits (small) | self-reported figures not confirmed independently |
| Aevo | no | — |
| Hyperliquid | n/a | options launch |
What would break it, and by how much
- Deribit stops being a venue for alts. Signal: no SOL_USDC series dated after 25.12.2026 by 30.11.2026. Then SOL and HYPE options longer than a few months exist on no crypto venue at all.
- Vol alignment breaks down, and the gap between venues on the same series widens past 3 points. Then buying on two venues starts to make sense.
What we don't know
No instrument for it: CME options open interest separately from futures — the 02.09.2026 press release only gives total crypto volume of $12bn a day; obtainable from the CME bulletin or a broker. Access to these options varies from broker to broker. Far-strike order-book depth wasn't captured, only top of book.
Nobody knows: whether Deribit will give alts longer quarterlies — no public announcement found. Options on Hyperliquid — no announcement, no date.
What to check, and when
Next check — 30.11.2026: whether Deribit has listed a SOL_USDC series beyond 25.12.2026, plus a fresh cross-venue vol snapshot.
Testable forecasts:
- By 30.11.2026 Deribit lists SOL_USDC options expiring 26.03.2027. Derived from the "4 months and 22 days" rule: if the series doesn't appear, the rule doesn't describe actual practice.
- On 26.10.2026 the mark IV of an ATM BTC call expiring 25.12.2026 differs by no more than 1.5 points across Deribit, OKX and Bybit.
Research for information only. Not investment advice.