open interest
Total number of active contracts in a futures or options market.
Open interest is the total count of futures or options contracts that remain active and unsettled at any given time. When traders buy or sell these contracts, open interest increases; when they close positions, it decreases. Think of it as a snapshot of how many bets are currently on the table in a market.
Open interest matters because it signals how much liquidity and activity exists in a market. High open interest suggests many traders are engaged and it’s relatively easy to buy or sell without moving prices dramatically. When you see open interest mentioned in financial news, it’s often used to gauge whether a market is gaining or losing investor attention, or to assess the health of trading in that particular asset.
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Written once as a plain-English reference, not as advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell anything.