Bitcoin futures history and the rise of IBIT options dominance

The 2017 CME launch and price pressure

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange launched bitcoin futures on December 17, 2017. This launch coincided with a peak price of $19,511. This launch arrived after the bitcoin price increased from under $1,150 in February 2017 to the December peak, as speculators could only bet on price increases before this. The CME launch provided pessimists a mechanism to bet on a price decline. This new ability to short the market pressured the spot price downward. In 2017, the average daily trading volume the month after the CME issued futures was approximately six times larger than when only the CBOE offered those derivatives. Before the CME entered the market, the CBOE had opened a futures market on December 10, 2017. The CBOE futures saw January contracts leap to a high of $17,170 during Asian hours after opening at $15,460 in New York. Trading was so intense that volatility halts triggered twice on the CBOE. The introduction of futures allowed pessimists to enter the market with lower delivery prices than the spot price.

Institutional shifts and IBIT dominance

Institutional bitcoin derivatives shifted toward regulated US markets as BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) options open interest reached $27.61 billion in April 2026, which allowed institutional open interest to overtake the $26.9 billion held on the crypto-native venue Deribit. Total bitcoin options open interest reached $78 billion in September 2026. You should notice how these regulated products draw capital away from offshore venues as the market shifts toward institutional platforms. The Nasdaq launched IBIT options in November 2024. On the first day of trading, Nasdaq reported 70 million call options at a $100 strike. In April 2026, the implied bitcoin price target from IBIT call options was $109,709.

The evolution of bitcoin options moved from crypto-native venues to standardized institutional platforms. In 2021, ProShares launched the Proshares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which invests in bitcoin futures. In 2021, BITO options saw $360 million in volume at launch. By April 2026, IBIT options reached a milestone by overtaking Deribit. This growth followed the SEC approval of the first spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024. The SEC previously denied applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs for years, including the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.

The Cboe Bitcoin U.S. ETF Index tracks a basket of spot Bitcoin ETFs. IBIT holds a 9.10% weight in this index. Other constituents include Grayscale Bitcoin Trust at 9.09%, Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund at 9.09%, Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust at 9.09%, ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF at 9.09%, VanEck Bitcoin Trust at 9.10%, Coinshare Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund at 9.09%, Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF at 9.08%, and Franklin Bitcoin ETF at 9.09%.

September expiry and technicals

Deribit saw nearly $16 billion in bitcoin options expire on September 25, 2026. Bitcoin price climbed from $80,000 toward $86,000 around the settlement. IBIT options currently show 33,073 calls and 23,177 puts. The put-call ratio for these contracts is 0.70, and the total open interest for IBIT is 56,250. Bitcoin faces call walls at the $90,000 and $100,000 strikes.

Cboe provides index options based on the Cboe Bitcoin U.S. ETF Index. This index is a modified market capitalization-weighted index. The Cboe Mini Bitcoin U.S. ETF Index options have 1/10th the notional value of the standard options. These products use cash settlement and European-style exercise. Standard CBTX options have an AM settlement, while CBTXW options have a PM settlement. The Cboe Mini Bitcoin U.S. ETF Index (MBTX) options also follow these settlement patterns. The standard CBTX options expire on the third Friday of the month. The MBTX options expire on the last trading day of the month. These contracts eliminate the risk of early assignment and avoid physical delivery of the underlying ETFs.

Does the increase in institutional hedging reduce the impact of sudden price swings?