Futures exposure stays high
Ethereum futures open interest remains above $30 billion. Coinglass shows 12.63 million ETH in active contracts, worth $30.59 billion, after a 0.42% slip over 24 hours. Binance leads with $8.73 billion, or 28.55% of the total. MEXC follows at $3.25 billion, narrowly ahead of CME at $3.24 billion. Hyperliquid carries $2.61 billion, Bybit holds $2.15 billion, and Bitget accounts for $2 billion. The spread shows that both centralized and crypto-native venues still carry meaningful exposure.
Exchange-level changes were mixed. MEXC OI rose 6.49%, while Bitget gained 1.22%. Bitunix fell 11.27%, BingX declined 7.57%, and Hyperliquid slipped 1.70%. CME recorded a 1.11% contraction. So traders were not uniformly eager to add risk.
Longs take the harder hit
Liquidations tell a less comfortable story. Over 24 hours, 3,222 ETH longs were liquidated against 2,181 shorts. In the 12-hour window, the split was wider at 2,651 longs versus 876 shorts. Funding rates stayed mostly positive, with Cryptoquant’s latest reading near 0.0053, meaning bullish positions continued paying shorts. That combination is awkward. Positive funding suggests a bullish lean, but liquidation data shows those positions are vulnerable. Perhaps traders are leaning long without controlling short-term price moves.
Options point to calls, with caveats
Options show calls holding 61.75% of open interest: 1.59 million ETH in calls versus 983,689 ETH in puts. Yet 24-hour volume was nearly even, with 414,521 ETH in calls against 420,513 ETH in puts. Deribit’s Dec. 25 $3,200 call leads individual positions at 69,667 ETH. Its $2,200 call holds 51,016 ETH, and the Oct. 30 $2,600 call carries 38,043 ETH. Outstanding calls alone do not prove outright bullish bets.
CME options exposure has also contracted. Cryptoquant data shows outstanding contracts falling from above 500,000 ETH in earlier 2026 levels to near 50,000 ETH by October. Combined dollar exposure dropped from over $70 million in late 2025 to roughly $10 million in October. That points to a smaller CME footprint even as broader exchange-traded derivatives keep large exposure.
Max pain splits across venues
Max pain levels differ by exchange. For the Oct. 30 expiration, Deribit and Binance point near $2,500, while OKX sits near $2,650. For Dec. 25, Deribit sits near $2,200, OKX near $2,300, and Binance near $2,500. These are not price forecasts. They reflect each venue’s options positions.
The overall picture remains mixed. Calls dominate options open interest, futures OI is above $30 billion, and funding is mostly positive. But liquidations keep hitting longs. Bulls may hold the numerical edge in options, yet the derivatives market has not handed them full control.
