Open interest
Open interest is the value of all open perpetual futures positions of a coin on one venue (each position counted once, longs equal shorts).
Definition
Open interest is the value of all open perpetual futures positions of a coin on one venue (each position counted once, longs equal shorts).
In one sentence: Open interest: the total value of open perpetual positions on a venue.
Current data · BTC
updated 1m ago (2026-11-05 10:35 UTC)- Binance: $7.7B
- Bybit: $5.5B
- Hyperliquid: $3.1B
- Lighter: $178M
From the data shown above: BTC, latest values (5 Nov 2026, 10:35 UTC): Binance $7.7B · Bybit $5.5B · Hyperliquid $3.1B · Lighter $178M.
How we compute it
Formula
open interest (USD) = open interest in coins × mark price (Hyperliquid, Lighter)
Binance, Bybit: the open interest their public endpoints publish- Hyperliquid: the market contexts (WebSocket, REST metaAndAssetCtxs as fallback) every 30 seconds (openInterest × mark). Binance and Bybit: their public open-interest endpoints every 60 seconds.
- Stored as 5-minute buckets (last value of the bucket) for 35 days, then one value per hour, kept without a time limit.
How to read it
- Rising open interest = new positions are being opened; falling = positions are closed or liquidated.
- Read it together with price: the same price move with rising or falling open interest means different things.
Common mistakes
- Reading rising open interest as buying. Every new contract has a long and a short side, so open interest says how much is open, not who opened it.
- Comparing USD open interest of a coin over a big price move without the price. Open interest in USD also rises when the price rises and nothing new was opened.
Honest limits
- CEX open interest covers the USDT perpetuals of Binance and Bybit; Binance values are refreshed within a per-minute request budget, so less active contracts can be a few minutes old. HIP-3 markets exist only on Hyperliquid.
- Venues define open interest slightly differently (coin- or USD-margined contracts).
Questions and answers
Does rising open interest mean traders are going long?
No. Every open contract has a long and a short side, so rising open interest only means more positions are open. The long/short ratio and funding show which side is crowded.
Use it live
Step by step
API
Every key uses the data of its plan; see the developer docs for parameters and examples. Developers · API docs
Plan availability
- Free: every coin, current values and 30 days of history.
- Pro and above: history up to 1095 days, CSV export.
- API: free developer key (10/min, 1,000/day, free-tier data, non-commercial) · API Dev and above (60/min, 50,000/day).
Terms defined here
Open interest
Data as of 2026-11-05 10:35 UTC. Methodology. Facts from public data. Not investment advice. · Report incorrect data