Bitcoin’s derivatives market is showing renewed appetite as open interest in futures climbs to $54.78 billion, according to Coinglass data compiled on October 29. The figure represents 672,480 BTC and marks a 1.46 % rise over the previous 24 hours, suggesting that traders are adding exposure rather than exiting positions. While the overall increase is modest, exchange‑level data reveal divergent activity: Binance holds the largest slice of futures OI at 20.68 % ($11.33 bn), CME follows with 16 % ($8.77 bn), and platforms such as Bybit, Gate and MEXC contribute smaller but notable shares. The surge comes as Bitcoin trades between $79,262 and $81,939, hovering near $81,700 at the time of writing.

BTC / USD
Source: CoinGecko. Prices are indicative.

Call‑Heavy Options Positioning

Options data from Coinglass shows a clear bullish bias: calls account for 59.35 % of total options open interest, amounting to 289,312 BTC, while puts represent 198,132 BTC. The most concentrated call strikes are $95,000 (19,951 BTC OI), $100,000 (11,284 BTC) and $90,000 (10,711 BTC), all listed on Deribit and expiring on October 30. Despite the call dominance, daily options volume over the past 24 hours tilted slightly toward puts, which made up 52.07 % of traded contracts, indicating that many traders are buying downside protection alongside bullish bets. The put‑to‑call ratio for the upcoming expiry is estimated at roughly 0.53, reinforcing the view that call contracts outnumber puts by a significant margin.

Election Volatility Premium Shrinks

A separate analysis by Block Scholes, cited by CryptoSlate, compares Bitcoin’s forward‑looking implied volatility around the November 3 midterm elections with the same window before the 2024 presidential election. The 2026 snapshot shows an annualized forward volatility of 37.8 % for the seven‑to‑14‑day election window, only 2.8 percentage points higher than the 14‑to‑30‑day interval. By contrast, the 2024 premium was 14.4 percentage points, indicating that the current election carries a much smaller volatility premium. The report finds virtually no correlation (‑0.02) between changes in Senate‑control probabilities on the Kalshi market and Bitcoin’s daily returns, suggesting that political expectations are not currently driving price movements.

What to Watch Next

The immediate test will be the $11 billion of Bitcoin options set to expire on October 30, with the $78,000‑$81,000 range identified as a key “max‑pain” zone by several exchanges. A settlement above this band could give bulls momentum, while a sharp move below may trigger further selling. On the monetary‑policy front, the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold rates at 3.75 %‑4 % on October 28 removed one source of uncertainty, but dissenting votes for a rate hike keep the outlook ambiguous. Traders will be looking to the December 8‑9 FOMC meeting, upcoming inflation and employment data, and any shifts in political sentiment as additional catalysts that could reshape Bitcoin’s short‑term trajectory.

Sources

This article was prepared by the CoinMag newsroom from the reports listed above.