Tato stránka je k dispozici jen pro informativní účely. Některé služby a funkce nemusí být ve vaší jurisdikci dostupné.

What is open interest in crypto?

*This article discusses products that are not available in all regions.

Open interest (OI) is a metric that shows the total number of outstanding derivatives contracts, such as futures or options, that remain unsettled. OI is used by traders to measure market activity and sentiment towards a specific asset. The metric achieves this by showing the total number of active contracts at a certain moment in time.

If you’re looking to trade crypto derivatives products in available markets, it’s worthwhile to understand what open interest is, how to calculate the metric, and how you can use open interest to inform your trading strategy. Read on as we explore these areas.

How to calculate OI

The formula for calculating OI is relatively simple. All we need to do is add the total number of open long positions to the number of open short positions. However, keep in mind that this total is always changing as buyers and sellers open and close positions.

Here's how the changing buy and sell positions impact the OI total, using the scenario of two traders entering into a contract.

Trade

Impact on OI

Two traders each open a new position

OI increases by 1

One trader closes their position, the other's remains unchanged

OI decreases by 1

A position is transferred to a third trader

OI stays the same

Benefits and limitations of OI

Before measuring OI as part of your trading strategy, it's wise to understand the benefits and limitations of the metric, as part of your wider research.

Benefits of open interest

  • Reduced trading costs: Higher OI typically indicates deeper liquidity, making it easy for traders to enter and exit positions. This increased trading activity results in more narrow bid-ask spreads that allow for reduced transaction costs and slippage for active traders.

  • Gives context to market sentiment: OI could be used to back up other evidence of a shift in trader sentiment, reinforcing any wider technical analysis you've completed.

  • Transparency to market activity: Because OI reveals the number of unsettled contracts for an asset, you gain valuable insight into market engagement, allowing you to make more informed, data-driven decisions.

  • Simplicity: Because you can quantify OI through a calculation, it's one of the simpler metrics you can use for technical analysis. As a result, OI can be adopted by beginner traders right through to veterans.

Limitations of open interest

  • It's a lagging indicator: As OI relies on past data to provide a measure of what's already happened, it can only confirm a trend after it's started. This could lead you to miss potential gains if you open a position after prices have already moved.

  • It can be misleading without additional context: By now we know that OI can be most effective when it's combined with other metrics. However, that means OI could be misleading if it’s viewed without context, potentially leading you to incorrect conclusions.

  • Lacks directional detail: OI shows the total number of unsettled contracts, but not whether they're bullish or bearish. Further analysis is needed to place OI in context and allow you to make a fully informed trading decision.

Using OI in your crypto trading strategy

Now that we've got a clearer picture of what OI is and its benefits and limitations, how can you apply the metric to your trading strategy? Here are three ways many traders use OI.

Understand market participation

Some traders measure OI alongside price action for insight into market participation. Rising OI and prices could suggest growing trading volume. On the other hand, falling OI could suggest that positions are being closed, pointing to weakening momentum.

Suggest possible trader sentiment

Because open interest sometimes shows a correlation to market volume, some use it to judge possible trader sentiment. Rising OI and prices could suggest positive sentiment, while the opposite scenario might suggest more fear in the market.

Help spot trends

Other traders use open interest to identify trends, and once again, volume is a key metric often included for this purpose. Rising OI coupled with rising volume could suggest a trend is strengthening, because increasing OI points to new money entering the market. The question then is: in what direction is the trend moving? Price action can help to answer this. Rising OI and volume during a period of downward prices could suggest a continuing bearish trend — and vice versa, when prices are rising.

The final word

Open Interest is a useful metric to understand when completing technical analysis in the sometimes complex derivatives market. Although OI is often most effective when measured alongside other factors, its simplicity and transparency mean the metric is accessible for beginner traders as they can quickly gauge existing liquidity in the market.

Interested in learning more about derivatives trading? Our essential guide is a good place to start, alongside our explainer article on trading BTC derivatives.

Zřeknutí se odpovědnosti
Tento obsah je poskytován jen pro informativní účely a může se týkat produktů, které nejsou ve vašem regionu k dispozici. Jeho účelem není poskytovat (i) investiční poradenství nebo investiční doporučení, (ii) nabídku nebo výzvu k nákupu, prodeji či držbě kryptoměn / digitálních aktiv ani (iii) finanční, účetní, právní nebo daňové poradenství. Držba digitálních aktiv, včetně stablecoinů, s sebou nese vysokou míru rizika, a tato aktiva mohou značně kolísat. Měli byste pečlivě zvážit, zda jsou pro vás obchodování či držba kryptoměn / digitálních aktiv s ohledem na vaši finanční situaci vhodné. Otázky týkající se vaší konkrétní situace prosím zkonzultujte se svým právním/daňovým/investičním poradcem. Informace (včetně případných tržních dat a statistických informací), které se zobrazují v tomto příspěvku, slouží výhradně k obecným informativním účelům. I když jsme přípravě těchto dat a grafů věnovali řádnou péči, nepřebíráme žádnou odpovědnost za případné faktické chyby, opomenutí nebo názory, které v nich vyjádřené.

© 2025 OKX. Tento článek může být reprodukován nebo šířen jako celek, případně mohou být použity výňatky tohoto článku nepřekračující 100 slov za předpokladu, že se jedná o nekomerční použití. U každé reprodukce či distribuce celého článku musí být viditelně uvedeno: „Tento článek je © 2025 OKX a je použit na základě poskytnutého oprávnění.“ U povolených výňatků musí být uveden název článku a zdroj, a to např. takto: „Název článku, [místo pro jméno autora, je-li k dispozici], © 2025 OKX.” Část obsahu může být generována nástroji umělé inteligence (AI) nebo s jejich asistencí. Z tohoto článku nesmí být vytvářena odvozená díla ani nesmí být používán jiným způsobem.

Související články

Zobrazit více
como-saber-se-tenho-bitcoins
Bitcoin
Beginner
Trading guide

Comment Acheter du Bitcoin en 2025 : Guide Complet OKX

26. 7. 2025
Začátečníci
OKX Bot Trading
Trading tools
OKX
Trading guide

How to use OKX's crypto trading bots

On top of our extensive trading pairs, decentralized finance offerings and opportunities to earn crypto , we provide customizable crypto trading bots to help traders leverage various automated trading strategies. In this guide we will cover:
25. 7. 2025
12
CONVERT thumb 2
DeFi
Wallets
Futures

OKX Convert: Chuyển đổi tiền mã hóa không mất phí, không trượt giá

Trong thế giới tiền mã hóa đầy biến động và tốc độ, không phải ai cũng có thời gian, kỹ năng hoặc kinh nghiệm để thao tác trên các sàn giao dịch theo kiểu truyền thống. Với nhiều người dùng đặc biệt là người mới, việc phải hiểu order book, chọn cặp giao dịch, canh lệnh limit hay lo trượt giá là một rào cản lớn. Trong khi đó, nhu cầu cơ bản lại rất rõ ràng là đổi nhanh một đồng coin sang một đồng khác, không mất phí, không gặp rủi ro về giá.
25. 7. 2025
Yield farming and staking
DeFi
Blockchain
Trading basics

What is liquid staking and how does it work?

Liquid staking, also known as soft staking, is a more advanced form of traditional staking that's available on many new-generation smart contract protocols. With liquid staking, users can access their locked funds for other crypto-based activities while still earning rewards from their original deposit.
22. 4. 2025
Pokročilí
6
Technical analysis generic thumb
DeFi

Top 11 crypto lending platforms in 2024

Crypto lending platforms are one of the most revolutionary additions to the crypto industry. Although they’ve been around for a while, crypto loans became popular when the DeFi sector blew up in 2020.
22. 4. 2025
14
Technical analysis generic thumb
Technical analysis

Crypto technical analysis: your essential guide to reading crypto data

Though technical analysis in the cryptocurrency market might seem daunting, the term simply refers to the study of past market data in an effort to project future price movements. In essence, it allow
22. 4. 2025
Začátečníci
39
Zobrazit více