Ethereum derivatives markets showed heavy positioning on Sept. 4 as ethereum traded near $4,399, with ether futures open interest above $58 billion and options skewed toward calls.
Binance, CME Anchor ETH Futures; Options Lean Call-Heavy
Spot conditions show ethereum at $4,399, up 0.2% on the day, within a 24-hour range of $4,357 to $4,486. The market capitalization stands at about $531.3 billion on a circulating supply of roughly 120.7 million, with $31.4 billion in 24-hour volume.
Futures activity remains elevated. Across exchanges, total ethereum futures open interest, according to coinglass.com stats, is 13.38 million ETH, or roughly $58.87 billion. The notional footprint has trended higher since early summer alongside ETH’s recent rising price range.
The dominant centralized exchange (CEX) Binance holds the largest share at $11.50 billion, or 19.54% of the total, followed by CME at $8.38 billion (14.23%). Bitget lists $6.44 billion (10.93%), Bybit $5.30 billion (8.99%), Gate $4.72 billion (8.01%), and OKX $3.84 billion (6.51%).
MEXC shows $2.45 billion (4.16%), WhiteBIT $2.18 billion (3.7%), BingX $1.21 billion (2.06%), and Kucoin $426.5 million (0.72%). Momentum over the last day is mixed across venues.
Aggregate open interest is up about 1.04% on the session. By exchange, 24-hour changes include OKX +2.38%, Bybit +4.13%, Bitget +7.53%, Gate +1.19%, and CME +0.24%; Binance is down 0.60%, MEXC down 0.46%, WhiteBIT up 0.15%, BingX down 14.34%, and Kucoin down 18.65%.
Today’s options ETH metrics, per coinglass.com, point to a call-heavy posture. Options open interest is 64.78% calls versus 35.22% puts, equal to about 2.40 million ETH in calls and 1.30 million ETH in puts.
The recent trading tape is far more balanced. Over the past 24 hours, options volume is 52.17% calls and 47.83% puts, or roughly 162,198 ETH versus 148,715 ETH. Open interest is concentrated in higher-strike calls.
The largest individual positions include Deribit Dec. 26, 2025 $6,000 calls (87,119 ETH), $4,000 calls (74,553 ETH), and $7,000 calls (56,784 ETH). Near-dated interest is visible in the Sept. 26, 2025 $4,000 and $4,500 calls.
Volume leadership over the last day tilts toward protective puts and at-the-money calls. Notable lines include the Oct. 31, 2025 $3,300 put (7,303 ETH) and $3,200 put (7,041 ETH), alongside the Sept. 26, 2025 $4,500 call (6,754 ETH) and $4,000 put (6,691 ETH).
Ethereum‘s max pain levels, based on Deribit, cluster between the low $3,000s and low $4,000s into year-end. The curve dips toward roughly $3,100 around the Sept. 26 expiry, rises toward the low $4,000s by late December, and drifts lower toward the mid-$2,000s by March 2026 before rebounding.
Across expiries, notional concentration is heaviest on Sept. 26 and Dec. 26, with additional interest at year-end 2026 quarters. The mix suggests traders are keying on quarter-end milestones while keeping downside hedges active into the fourth quarter. Spot flows remain active on major venues, with ETH derivatives liquidity deepest on Binance and CME on Thursday.
