Markets
Crypto futures: funding, open interest and options
What traders with leverage are doing in Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and XRP: who pays funding, how much is open, puts against calls, expected volatility and the market's mood.
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The Gold Field Guide
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Crypto Fear & Greed Index
50 of 100: Neutral: neither side leads. yesterday 54, a week ago 59, a month ago 74. Reading of 2026-10-26. Source: Crypto Fear & Greed Index by Alternative.me.
Perpetual futures
Bitcoin funding now: +8.4% a year (Kraken Futures and Deribit, averaged): buyers are paying sellers: more traders are long with borrowed money.
- XRP Kraken Futures+18.1%
- Solana Kraken Futures+14.5%
- Bitcoin Kraken Futures+10.6%
- Ether Kraken Futures+10.5%
- Bitcoin Deribit+6.2%
- Ether Deribit+0.8%
| Market | Exchange | Price | Funding (8 hours) | A year at this rate | Open interest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin PF_XBTUSD | Kraken Futures | $79,883.14 | +0.0096% | +10.6% | $210.05 m |
| Ether PF_ETHUSD | Kraken Futures | $2,313.68 | +0.0096% | +10.5% | $73.99 m |
| Solana PF_SOLUSD | Kraken Futures | $100.43 | +0.0132% | +14.5% | $22.29 m |
| XRP PF_XRPUSD | Kraken Futures | $1.2939 | +0.0166% | +18.1% | $22.81 m |
| Bitcoin BTC-PERPETUAL | Deribit | $79,891.46 | +0.0057% | +6.2% | $1.50 bn |
| Ether ETH-PERPETUAL | Deribit | $2,313.80 | +0.0007% | +0.8% | $419.24 m |
Deribit: open interest of all its Bitcoin or Ether futures. Kraken: the perpetual only. Kraken pays funding every hour; its 8-hour figure is the hourly rate times 8.
Options (Deribit)
| Coin | Puts per call (open) | Options open | DVOL now | vs its past year | 120 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | 0.60 | $31.67 bn | 38.5 ±2.0% a day | 30 (year low 34, high 83) | |
| Ether | 0.50 | $3.55 bn | 52.8 ±2.8% a day | 29 (year low 46, high 96) |
Options open interest by strike (Deribit)
For the expiry shown: how many options are still open at each strike, in coins. Big stacks at one strike are levels traders watch into expiry. Max pain is the strike where option holders as a group would be paid least. A map of positioning, not a forecast.
Bitcoin
Expires 30 October 2026. Max pain $78,000.
| Strike | Calls open | Puts open | Calls and puts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 65,000 | 302 | 2,466 | |
| 69,000 | 583 | 2,346 | |
| 70,000 | 3,726 | 4,377 | |
| 71,000 | 939 | 2,579 | |
| 72,000 | 639 | 2,652 | |
| 75,000 | 1,214 | 2,993 | |
| 80,000 | 1,456 | 1,546 | |
| 82,000 | 2,050 | 1,064 | |
| 84,000 | 2,099 | 953 | |
| 85,000 | 3,296 | 838 | |
| 88,000 | 2,017 | 925 | |
| 90,000 | 10,717 | 45 | |
| 95,000 | 19,951 | 201 | |
| 100,000 | 11,284 | 1 |
Ether
Expires 30 October 2026. Max pain $2,500.
| Strike | Calls open | Puts open | Calls and puts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,000 | 799 | 7,554 | |
| 2,200 | 1,469 | 7,689 | |
| 2,250 | 643 | 8,461 | |
| 2,300 | 1,226 | 25,609 | |
| 2,400 | 6,713 | 14,892 | |
| 2,500 | 15,518 | 4,801 | |
| 2,550 | 5,715 | 3,521 | |
| 2,600 | 37,476 | 2,775 | |
| 2,650 | 5,181 | 6,739 | |
| 2,700 | 7,171 | 3,684 | |
| 2,800 | 8,164 | 617 | |
| 3,000 | 14,145 | 158 | |
| 3,200 | 15,228 | 98 | |
| 3,600 | 9,598 | 161 |
How to read it
- Funding is what one side of a perpetual future pays the other to keep its price near the coin's price. Positive: buyers pay sellers, so more traders are long with borrowed money. A high rate for days means a crowded long; a negative rate, a crowded short.
- A year at this rate is the funding as a yearly cost, so exchanges that pay every hour and every 8 hours compare. It changes all the time; it is a reading, not a promised cost.
- Open interest is the value of all positions still open. Rising with the price: new money is behind the move. Falling sharply: positions are being closed or forced out.
- Puts against calls: above 1, more open options pay off if the price falls (protection is being held); below 1, more pay off if it rises.
- DVOL is Deribit's index of how much options traders expect the coin to move over the next 30 days, a yearly %. 50 is about ±2.6% on a normal day.
- Fear & Greed reads volatility, volume, social media and Bitcoin's share of the market as one number. Extremes are where crowds have already acted, not a timing signal.
Sources: Kraken Futures and Deribit public market data (no account); Crypto Fear & Greed Index by Alternative.me. Read every 30 minutes.
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The Gold Field Guide
The gold day hour by hour, the six forces behind the price and the releases worth a place in your calendar.
Data and education only, not investment advice and not a trading signal. Public sources can be late or wrong; check before relying on a number. Past prices do not predict what a market will do. Risk warning · The words on this page, explained