Bitcoin’s Old Futures Trade Is Vanishing as Perpetuals and Options Take Over

By Isaac • September 20, 2026 7:12 pm •

Bitcoin’s derivatives market is bigger and more sophisticated than it was five years ago. Yet one of the products that helped build it is fading fast.

Dated futures volume across offshore venues tracked by Glassnode has fallen roughly 97% from its 2021 level, according to a detailed CryptoSlate analysis. The report traces the change across five market regimes since 2019, showing options rise from roughly one-quarter of crypto-native Bitcoin derivatives open interest to nearly half while perpetual contracts absorbed much of the simple leverage trade that once belonged to dated futures.

The shift reached a clear milestone in January 2026, when the report measured Bitcoin options open interest at about $74.1 billion against roughly $65.22 billion