Bitcoin Gets Pinned Near $77K as $3.7B Options Expiry Locks in Max Pain Zone

Bitcoin Futures Open Interest Holds astatine $54.9B, Still Far Below 2025 Peak

On Monday, full bitcoin futures unfastened involvement (OI) crossed each tracked exchanges stood astatine 710,150 BTC, worthy $54.94 billion, according to Coinglass data. CME ranked archetypal by dollar worth astatine $9.33 billion, representing 16.97% of the full marketplace contempt holding lone 120,570 BTC successful unfastened contracts. Binance trailed adjacent down with $10.41 cardinal and 134,570 BTC, giving it the largest stock by coin number astatine 18.94%.

OKX, Bybit, Gate, and Hyperliquid rounded retired the apical six, with the afloat marketplace showing a 24-hour OI alteration of antagonistic 0.59%. Futures unfastened involvement successful USD presumption peaked successful precocious October 2025 adjacent $100 cardinal erstwhile bitcoin approached $126,000, past fell sharply arsenic terms corrected done precocious 2025 and into aboriginal 2026.

Bitcoin futures information via Coinglass connected May 25, 2026.

Statistics amusement a important trough successful February 2026 earlier a measured betterment that brought OI backmost into the $55–$65 cardinal scope alongside a spot terms betterment toward $80,000. The existent level sits astir $30 cardinal beneath the rhythm peak, adjacent arsenic terms has reclaimed the mid-$70s range.

CME Bitcoin Options Remain Put-Heavy, Max Pain Converges Around May 29 Expiry

On the options side, calls held a 56.79% borderline implicit puts by unfastened involvement arsenic of Monday morning, with 267,983.95 BTC successful telephone OI against 203,904.95 BTC successful enactment OI crossed each tracked venues. The 24-hour volume divided was astir even. Essentially, calls astatine 50.15% versus puts astatine 49.85%, suggesting short-term directional condemnation is bladed adjacent arsenic the longer-term publication leans bullish.

The astir progressive unfastened involvement declaration connected Deribit was the May 29 $80,000 call, carrying 7,856 BTC. That onslaught sits astir $2,657 supra the existent spot, making it out-of-the-money heading into Friday’s expiry. The December 2026 $120,000 telephone ranked 2nd with 7,063.3 BTC, indicating immoderate traders are betting connected a important terms determination earlier year-end.

The December 2026 $60,000 enactment was the third-largest presumption astatine 6,496.2 BTC, reflecting superior hedging enactment against a downside scenario. Max symptom calculations crossed exchanges amusement notable alignment. Deribit’s max symptom curve sits betwixt $76,000 and $79,000 for the May 29 expiry, with $3.7 cardinal successful notional worth acceptable to expire Thursday. Binance shows a akin near-term max symptom successful the $76,000–$78,000 set earlier climbing sharply toward $80,000 for the June 26 contract. OKX’s curve rises steadily done June 2026 earlier pulling backmost and past spiking adjacent $80,000 for the March 2027 expiration, wherever notional worth approaches $1.2 billion.

The 24-hour volume rankings connected Deribit showed the astir progressive trading concentrated successful near-term Bybit contracts. The Bybit BTC-26MAY26-$78,500-C- USDT led each pairs with 309.85 BTC successful volume, followed by the $78,000 telephone astatine 306.26 BTC and the $77,500 telephone astatine 299.79 BTC. A $76,000 enactment connected Bybit ranked 4th astatine 290.08 BTC, and Deribit’s June 26 $85,000 telephone placed 5th astatine 279.5 BTC. The clustering adjacent existent spot levels confirms traders are paying adjacent attraction to the $77,000–$79,000 range.

CME‘s options operation tells a antithetic communicative than the retail-dominated platforms. CryptoQuant information shows CME options OI stacked by expiration has contracted sharply from its November 2025 highest of astir 70,000 BTC, with the near-term 1–2 period expiration bucket present dominating what remains. By position, puts person consistently outweighed calls successful CME’s publication passim 2025 and into 2026. A signifier that reflects organization traders utilizing options chiefly arsenic downside extortion alternatively than speculative leverage.

Kucoin posted the astir utmost OI-to- volume ratio astatine 6.6362, meaning its 24-hour volume represented much than six times its unfastened interest, a motion of elevated short-term churn comparative to held positions. BingX showed the sharpest 24-hour OI diminution astatine antagonistic 23.09%, portion Bybit stood retired with a 2.65% 24-hour OI increase, the largest summation among the apical exchanges.

With spot astatine $77,343 and max symptom sitting close successful that portion heading into the May 29 expiry, options writers person crushed to clasp steady. Whether that gravitational propulsion holds done Thursday, oregon whether a catalyst breaks the scope and forces a scramble, is the question traders are pricing into each telephone and enactment connected the tape.