Dated Bitcoin futures on offshore crypto exchanges have fallen about 97% from their 2021 level, according to Glassnode. The volume didn't vanish — it split between perpetual futures, now the easiest way to make a leveraged directional bet, and options, which have grown to handle hedging and volatility trades instead.
Traders on offshore Bitcoin derivatives venues have all but abandoned the dated futures contract that once anchored the market. Dated futures activity is now roughly 97% below its 2021 level, Glassnode found, while options have grown from about a quarter to nearly half of crypto-native Bitcoin derivatives open interest.
Perpetuals absorb the leverage trade
Unlike a dated contract, a perpetual future carries no expiry, so a trader avoids managing a contract roll or choosing which maturity holds the deepest liquidity. That design makes perpetuals the default venue for a simple leveraged bet on Bitcoin's direction.
A Sept. 18 snapshot of Binance illustrates the gap. The exchange's BTCUSDT and BTCUSDC perpetuals together carried roughly $9.93 billion in open interest. Its two dated Bitcoin contracts, expiring Sept. 25 and Dec. 25, held only about $77 million combined — about 129 times less.
Options take over hedging and volatility
Options have grown for a different reason: large, long-term holders of Bitcoin — spot ETF investors, corporate treasuries, market makers — increasingly want to adjust risk around a position rather than open a new directional bet. Options let them do that without selling.
The shift shows up in the numbers. Bitcoin's options open interest reached about $74.1 billion against roughly $65.22 billion in futures in January 2026, the first time options carried the larger position inventory. Bybit's share of tracked Bitcoin options volume climbed to 28%, up from below 10%, with its options book expanding from $529 million to $2.33 billion.
CME keeps a narrower institutional role
Dated futures haven't disappeared everywhere. Glassnode's futures data excludes CME, where a regulated asset manager, hedge fund, bank or basis trader may still prefer a standardized contract that fits existing clearing and compliance systems. Spot ETFs have reinforced that role, since funds can hold spot exposure and short CME futures against it when the spread covers financing costs.
CME's continued relevance is why the shrinking offshore contract shouldn't be read as Bitcoin abandoning futures altogether.
Source: CryptoSlate
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