Crypto Futures Open Interest Ends June at $53.2 Billion
Average derivatives open interest fell 47% from its Q3 2025 peak, while June futures open interest was down 56% from October.
Crypto derivatives markets contracted through the first half of 2026, with average open interest at $90 billion in the first quarter and aggregate futures exposure ending June at $53.2 billion.
The first-quarter average was down 47% from a $170 billion peak in the third quarter of 2025. It was also the lowest quarterly reading among the four periods measured.
Aggregate futures open interest ended June 56% below the $122.2 billion recorded in October 2025 and 6% below the $56.5 billion recorded at the end of the first quarter. Average daily open interest was about $64 billion in April, $69 billion in May and $57 billion in June.
Open interest measures the value of outstanding futures contracts. A decline generally means fewer positions or lower notional exposure in the market, but it does not capture every form of leverage across futures, perpetual contracts and options.
U.S. Bitcoin futures open interest also declined during early March. It stood at $8.195 billion on March 4, fell to $7.5 billion on March 5 and reached $6.882 billion on March 6.
As of March 3, standard Bitcoin futures accounted for 20,302 contracts, while Micro Bitcoin futures accounted for 22,486 contracts. Each standard contract represented five Bitcoin, and each Micro contract represented 0.10 Bitcoin.
The figures show a broad reduction in derivatives-market activity across the first and second quarters. They do not establish the status of any specific futures-to-spot ratio or prove that leverage has disappeared from crypto markets.
The broader market figures indicate lower derivatives open interest across the first and second quarters, while the March data show a separate decline in CME Bitcoin futures open interest.
