Bitcoin Derivatives Market Suffers 97% Crash in Dated Futures Volume

The derivatives market for Bitcoin has undergone significant changes over the past five years. According to Glassnode, dated futures volume on offshore venues has plummeted by 97% compared to its 2021 level.

This decline is largely due to the rise of perpetuals, a type of contract that allows traders to keep their position open for as long as there's enough margin, without the need to worry about expiry. Perpetuals have become the preferred choice for traders seeking leveraged directional bets, with Binance's BTCUSDT perpetual carrying around 108,289 BTC of open interest on a recent snapshot.

The growth of options has also played a significant role in this shift. Options have expanded from approximately one-quarter of crypto-native Bitcoin derivatives open interest to nearly half, and are now used more for hedging, volatility protection, and downside risk management rather than making directional bets.