CME bitcoin options put open interest hit a yearly low relative to calls on June 28, as institutional traders positioned against the $60,000 support level holding.
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Bitcoin holds $60,041 as CME puts outweigh calls in institutional bearish bet
Bitcoin traded at $60,041 at 10 a.m. EST on June 28, with options max pain converging near that level across Deribit, Binance and OKX.
CME bitcoin options open interest dropped to its lowest levels of the past year, with puts consistently outpacing calls in notional value since late 2025, according to CryptoQuant data. The put skew on the regulated exchange reflects institutional hedgers who have remained defensive as price declined from six-figure territory.
Total bitcoin futures open interest across exchanges stood at $42.6 billion, down from the $95 billion cycle peak in late 2025. Binance led with 138,090 BTC in open interest worth $8.30 billion, followed by CME with 105,270 BTC at $6.33 billion. On Deribit, the September 2026 expiry carried $7.53 billion in notional value with a max pain level near $74,000.
The $59,057 level — the lower Bollinger Band anchor — represents the last credible technical defense before price enters a zone without structural support. A daily close below that threshold would open the path to $57,000 to $57,500 as the first target, with a realistic extension toward $55,000 on accelerating liquidations.
Derivatives Data Points to Crowded Long Risk
On Deribit, total bitcoin options open interest showed a clear call bias: 241,010 BTC in calls, or 60.41 percent, versus 157,934 BTC in puts at 39.59 percent. That skew suggests traders positioned for upside over longer horizons. Yet over the past 24 hours, trading volume between calls and puts was nearly even, with puts edging ahead at 50.87 percent versus 49.13 percent for calls. The most actively traded contracts on Deribit were bets that bitcoin would fall below $57,000 and $57,500 by the close.
The long/short ratio on tracked accounts stood at 2.0 for retail and 2.1 for institutional positions, according to Coinglass data — a heavy concentration of directional exposure on the bullish side in a market that has been trending lower. The taker buy/sell ratio of 0.8626 confirmed aggressive sellers pushing 2,920 contracts against buyers at 2,519, an imbalance that shows active distribution in real time.
Technical Picture Shows Exhaustion, Not Reversal
Bitcoin traded beneath the 7-, 20-, 50- and 200-day simple moving averages simultaneously, with the 200 SMA at $75,721 and the 50 SMA at $69,478. The MACD histogram has flatlined to zero after the prior leg down — a sign that selling velocity has decelerated but not reversed. The RSI pressed against the 30 threshold, while the Stochastic oscillator slipped into oversold territory with %K at 21 and %D at 16.80.
Immediate resistance sits at $60,737 and strong resistance at $61,433, both reachable within a single volatile session given the average true range of $2,088. On the downside, the lower Bollinger Band at $59,007 and the strong support zone at $59,057 form the last line of defense before a move into unanchored price territory.
The broader implication is that the bullish narratives from early 2026 — when analysts projected a push toward $110,000 by February — have been structurally invalidated for this timeframe. Bitcoin trading roughly 45 percent below those targets reflects a complete regime change in market dynamics, not a buying opportunity in disguise.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
