Pricing across venues
An option with the same strike and expiry trades at different prices on different venues because each has its own order book, forward, index, fees and margin rules; the fair comparison is at execution, after fees.
Why prices differ
A $100,000 BTC call expiring on the same day is the same bet on Deribit, OKX and Bybit, but not the same contract:
- Different order books. Each venue has its own market makers and its own flow. The bids, asks and depth differ, and so does the implied volatility they quote.
- Different forwards and indexes. Each venue prices against its own forward for the expiry and settles against its own index. A forward $50 higher makes a call slightly dearer and a put slightly cheaper with no change in volatility.
- Different fees. Trading fees are a percentage of the underlying, capped at a percentage of the option's price, and the cap differs by venue: it matters for cheap options.
- Different settlement currency. Deribit and OKX settle BTC options in the coin, Bybit in stablecoins (see inverse vs linear).
- Different margin. The same short position ties up different collateral on each venue.
Compare at execution, not mid
A mid price is no one's fill. The venue with the best mid can have the widest spread, or no depth at the size you need. The fair comparison is what each leg would really cost: the ask when buying, the bid when selling, plus that venue's fee. That is how BOSS compares venues, leg by leg and for the whole structure.
A worked example
A 30-day at-the-money long straddle, buying the $100,000 call and put, with a fee of about $30 a leg:
| Where | Call ask | Put ask | Fees | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue A | $5,790 | $5,760 | $60 | $11,610 |
| Venue B | $5,750 | $5,810 | $60 | $11,620 |
| Mix: call on B, put on A | $5,750 | $5,760 | $60 | $11,570 |
Venue A is the cheaper single venue by $10. Buying each leg where it is cheapest saves another $40. BOSS shows that "mix" when the best price for each leg is spread over two or more venues, and how it compares with the page's venue and with the best single venue.
What a mix gives up
Legs on different venues are separate positions. A spread whose short leg is on one venue and long leg on another doesn't net: each venue margins its own leg as if the other didn't exist, so a defined-risk structure can need the margin of a naked one. Each leg also settles against its own venue's index, so the payoff at expiry is close to, but not exactly, the textbook one. And moving collateral between venues takes time you may not have in a fast market.
BOSS also lists, per contract, the best venue to sell against the best venue to buy, fees included. When one venue's bid after fees is above another's ask after fees, the books cross. Such gaps are usually small, short-lived and thin.
Counterparty risk
A price is only as good as the venue that pays it. Each venue holds your collateral, runs its own risk engine and liquidation rules, and could fail, as FTX's collapse in 2022 showed. Spreading positions across venues spreads that risk; a few dollars of better pricing may not be worth concentrating it.
Live on BOSS
A long straddle priced on every venue BOSS follows: each venue's index, mid cost, slippage and fees, and, when the cheapest legs are on different venues, the mix built leg by leg.
Compare venues
These exact contracts -- same strikes, expiries and ratios -- on every venue BOSS tracks for this currency, at execution: what selling (bid) or buying (ask) each leg there comes to, after that venue's own fee. Green marks the best venue for each leg and for the whole structure.
| Deribit this page | Bybit | OKX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long Call $86000.0000 · 09 Oct 2026 | $1884.6355$1858.7002 + fee $25.9354 · IV 33.1% · 15.6000 | $1890.9631$1865.0000 + fee $25.9631 · IV 33.4% · 5.1600 | $1841.4035$1815.4682 + fee $25.9353 · IV 32.8% · 4.3100 |
| Long Put $86000.0000 · 09 Oct 2026 | $1409.2620$1383.3246 + fee $25.9373 · IV 33.1% · 0.9000 | $1395.9631$1370.0000 + fee $25.9631 · IV 33.4% · 4.7900 | $1409.1492$1383.2139 + fee $25.9353 · IV 32.8% · 42.4800 |
| Index? | $86381.4100 | $86419.3189 | $86392.0000 |
| Mid-Price Cost | $3198.7976 | $3210.0000 | $3155.4567 |
| Slippage? | +$43.2272 | +$25.0000 | +$43.2254 |
| Estimated Fees? | +$51.8727 | +$51.9262 | +$51.8705 |
| Total Estimated Cost | $3293.8975 | $3286.9262$6.9700 better than this page | $3250.5527$43.3400 better than this page |
| Max Profit? | Uncapped | Uncapped | Uncapped |
| Max Loss? | -$3293.8975 | -$3286.9262 | -$3250.5527 |
| Breakeven(s)? | $82706.1025, $89293.8975 | $82713.0738, $89286.9262 | $82749.4473, $89250.5527 |
| Structure IV? | 33.1% | 33.4% | 32.8% |
| Open on this venue → | Open on this venue → |
Each leg: what it nets there per contract (fill price with the fee folded in), then the fill price, fee, IV and the size quoted at that price.
Cross-venue differences
- Long Call $86000.0000 · 09 Oct 2026: OKX $1841.4035
- Long Put $86000.0000 · 09 Oct 2026: Bybit $1395.9631
| Contract | Best sale | Best purchase elsewhere | Difference | Size | IV spread (points) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Call $86000.0000 · 09 Oct 2026 | $1804.0369 Bybit | $1841.4035 OKX | -$37.3666 | 4.3100 | 0.6 Bybit 33.4% / OKX 32.8% |
| Put $86000.0000 · 09 Oct 2026 | $1329.0369 Bybit | $1409.1492 OKX | -$80.1123 | 2.7500 | 0.6 Bybit 33.4% / OKX 32.8% |
For comparing prices, not a recommendation: quotes move by the second, size is only what's shown at the top of the book, fees are each venue's published estimate, and the venues settle against different indexes and margin separately.
Common mistakes
- Comparing venues at mid instead of at execution with fees.
- Building a spread across venues and expecting it to be margined as a spread: each venue margins its own legs.
- Ignoring depth: the best ask may be for a fraction of the size you need.
- Forgetting that each leg settles against its own venue's index.
- Choosing a venue on price alone, without weighing the risk of the venue itself.
Where this shows up on BOSS
Educational content, not investment advice. See the disclaimer.