Competition for Crypto Options Heats Up

ETF

Derivatives

15/09/2025

Welcome back to the Data Debrief! This week we’re diving into all things crypto derivatives, with a particular focus on options markets. Crypto derivatives markets have been dominated by native players over the past decade, but now competition is growing. We explore this growing competition and how options on traditional venues might offer broader growth opportunities for altcoins.

Competition for CRYPTO OPTIONS HEATS UP

Crypto options trading has historically been dominated by native exchanges, with Deribit, OKX, and Binance leading the market. However, that has been shifting since the launch of spot BTC ETFs in 2024.

Now the most popular crypto-related options on Cboe are tied to BlackRock’s IBIT. These options, which only launched in November 2024, have already done over 85% of BITO’s total trades since inception, in a quarter of the time.

Screenshot 2025-09-15 at 14.58.22

The rapid uptake on IBIT options suggests there is some significant organic demand in traditional markets for crypto-related options. It’s also encouraging that these options so quickly bucked BITO’s dominance. Open interest for IBIT took just one month of trading to surpass BITO’s three year head start.

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ETF

15/09/2025 Data Debrief
Competition for Crypto Options Heats Up
This week we’re diving into all things crypto derivatives, with a particular focus on options markets. Crypto derivatives markets have been dominated by native players over the past decade, but now competition is growing. We explore this growing competition and how options on traditional venues might offer broader growth opportunities for altcoins.

Written by Adam Morgan McCarthy
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