14th September 2026 – (New York) Bitcoin’s derivatives complex shifted to a notably more optimistic stance on Monday, with traders paying more for upside than downside protection for the first time in a year while the spot price hovered near US$78,000. At 10.00am EDT on 14th September, bitcoin traded around US$78,278 as aggregate futures open interest reached about US$52.64 billion and options positioning showed calls outnumbering puts.
Options data indicated calls accounted for roughly 61.39 per cent of total open interest, or about 305,530 BTC, against approximately 192,126 BTC in puts, equal to 38.61 per cent. The 25‑delta skew turned positive on 20th August, signalling that traders have been willing to pay a premium for bullish exposure rather than for crash insurance. Trading flow broadly echoed the tilt, with 24‑hour call volume outpacing puts, reflecting a market more focused on ceilings after months preoccupied with floors.
Futures positioning remained heavy. Open interest stood near 676,820 BTC, valued at about US$52.64 billion, after a 24‑hour build that contrasted with softer momentum over shorter intervals. Exchange‑level snapshots showed Binance carrying around 142,870 BTC in open interest, or roughly US$11.11 billion and 21.1 per cent of the total, followed by CME at about 108,630 BTC or US$8.45 billion with a 16.04 per cent share. Gate held about US$4.94 billion, Bybit US$4.83 billion, MEXC US$4.39 billion and OKX about US$2.78 billion, while BingX registered an outsized one‑day jump in open interest.
Strike distribution on major options venues sketched a bullish but selective profile. Larger positions clustered at US$80,000, US$85,000, US$90,000 and US$100,000, with the single biggest displayed line including a US$70,000 call for the 25th September expiry. Recent September books were running at roughly 1.8 calls for every put, concentrating upside interests between about US$78,000 and US$100,000 while heavier downside hedges sat nearer US$60,000 and below.
Max‑pain references suggested spot still sits above the level that would render the greatest value of outstanding contracts worthless. On Deribit, estimates for 25th September centred around US$72,000 with a large notional attached, while the 25th December block pointed near US$71,000. Binance painted a somewhat firmer picture with a 25th September max‑pain indication around US$75,000. No reliable max‑pain read was available for OKX from the supplied materials.
Despite the brighter options skew, caution persisted. Some of the largest December call concentrations — such as near US$80,000, US$85,000 and US$100,000 — were framed by commentary that assigned little chance of bitcoin reclaiming its October 2025 peak above US$126,000 in the near term. With billions of dollars positioned across futures and options, sentiment has plainly improved, but positive skew remains a reflection of preference rather than a prediction, leaving the market to test whether renewed appetite for upside can pull price action decisively higher.