BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF Options Crack U.S. Top 10 With Over 7.7M Contracts

Options tied to cryptocurrencies are surging across U.S. markets, with BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF (IBIT) emerging as a major player. Just over a year after its November 2024 debut, IBIT options have climbed into the top 10 U.S.-listed options by open interest.

As of Tuesday, a total of 7,714,246 IBIT contracts were active or open, ranking ninth among all U.S.-listed stock, ETF, and index options, according to optioncharts.io. Among individual stocks, IBIT options rank second in open interest.

BloFin Research highlighted the growing significance of IBIT options as evidence of Bitcoin’s appeal as a macro asset. “IBIT options open interest has reached ninth place in the U.S. market. Including Deribit’s open interest, it rivals VIX and SPY options, further cementing its status as a leading macro asset,” the firm told CoinDesk.

IBIT options provide regulated access for institutions and allow ETF holders to manage risk effectively. Since launch, they have been used for hedging, speculation, and yield strategies such as covered calls. For context, options give the holder the right—but not the obligation—to buy (call) or sell (put) the underlying asset at a predetermined price.

Despite gold’s 50% surge this year compared with Bitcoin’s modest -0.1% decline, IBIT options have been more actively traded than SPDR Gold ETF (GLD) contracts, which had 5,151,654 open contracts as of Tuesday. Options on tech giants like Intel, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, and Tesla, as well as ETFs linked to emerging markets and long-term Treasuries, also lagged behind IBIT.

Notably, Nasdaq-listed IBIT options’ open interest surpassed bitcoin options on Deribit—the crypto options pioneer—at the end of September. Industry leaders remain S&P 500 and Nvidia options, each with open interest exceeding 20 million contracts.