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Commitments of Traders · Traders in Financial Futures, futures only

What positions do traders hold in VIX FUTURES futures?

In VIX FUTURES futures, leveraged funds held a net short position of 20,890 contracts and open interest was 433,778 contracts on (CFTC Commitments of Traders, released ).

Net positions in VIX FUTURES futures each week: leveraged funds, asset managers and institutional, dealers and intermediaries, contracts

8 November 2016 to 20 October 2026Net is long less short, ours; contracts

Net positions in VIX FUTURES futures each week: leveraged funds, asset managers and institutional, dealers and intermediaries, contracts (8 November 2016 to 20 October 2026)
Net positions in VIX FUTURES futures each week: leveraged funds, asset managers and institutional, dealers and intermediaries, contracts (22 October 2024 to 20 October 2026)

The lines

  • Leveraged funds−20,890
  • Asset managers and institutional−57,459
  • Dealers and intermediaries+78,379

Open interest in VIX FUTURES futures each week, contracts

8 November 2016 to 20 October 2026Contracts

Open interest in VIX FUTURES futures each week, contracts (8 November 2016 to 20 October 2026)
Open interest in VIX FUTURES futures each week, contracts (22 October 2024 to 20 October 2026)

Each point is one week of VIX FUTURES futures from the CFTC's Traders in Financial Futures report (futures only): the net position, long contracts less short contracts, of one group of traders, or all open contracts. The chart shows up to the newest ten years. Pointing at the chart shows the week and the value.

Select a line to followLatest:

Inspect and compare dates

The latest week of VIX FUTURES futures beside the one before it and the nearest ones a year and five years earlier. The weeks of the last two years and every group's long and short are in the tables under "The numbers behind the chart".

MeasureLatestThe week beforeA year earlierFive years earlier
Week
Open interest433,778448,469491,863361,391
Leveraged funds, net−20,890+1,105−75,217−37,415
Asset managers and institutional, net−57,459−77,295−4,032−89
Dealers and intermediaries, net+78,379+70,048+84,145+41,710

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

Observed .

Right now

Leveraged funds held a net short position of 20,890 contracts in VIX FUTURES futures in the week to , the largest net short since the week of .

The dealers and intermediaries were net long 78,379 contracts that week, and asset managers and institutional net short 57,459 contracts.

See every week of the last two years

Open interestVIX FUTURES, week of 20 October 2026

Open interest was 433,778 contracts in the week to , the most since the week of .

−14,691 contracts from the week before, held by 195 reporting traders.

See the long and short of each group

RecordsOurs, since the week of 2 June 2009

Open interest was highest at 704,831 contracts in the week of .

Leveraged funds held their largest net long, 63,753 contracts, in the week of , and their largest net short, 195,486 contracts, in the week of .

See each group's positions

The other groupsNet, and the last week larger

Asset managers and institutional: net short 57,459 contracts, the largest net short since the week of .

Dealers and intermediaries: net long 78,379 contracts, the largest net long since the week of .

Other reportable traders: net long 2,038 contracts, the largest net long since the week of .

See each group's positions

Understanding the futures positions report

Where it stands today

Leveraged funds were net short 20,890 contracts in VIX FUTURES futures in the week of 20 October 2026.

Who are the groups in the report?

The CFTC's Traders in Financial Futures report, one of its Commitments of Traders reports, gives the positions held in each financial futures market on a Tuesday, sorted by kind of trader: leveraged funds, asset managers and institutional investors, dealers and intermediaries, other reportable traders and traders below the reporting level.

Read more

A position is a number of contracts, long or short; dealers, asset managers, leveraged funds and other reportables also report spread positions, which hold both. The CFTC assigns each reporting trader to a group from the business the trader reports. This page uses the report's futures-only figures, which leave out options. The report gives the contract size of VIX FUTURES futures as ($1000 X INDEX), and the market as VIX FUTURES - CBOE FUTURES EXCHANGE.

What 500metrics adds: net positions (long less short, which leave out spread positions), the change from the week before, the records since the week of 2 June 2009, and the last week a group's net position was larger on the same side.

The numbers behind the chart

How were the VIX FUTURES positions split between long and short?Week of 20 October 2026, contracts
Long, short and spread positions of each group in VIX FUTURES futures (VIX FUTURES - CBOE FUTURES EXCHANGE), week of 20 October 2026 (contracts; net is ours)
GroupLongShortSpreadNet
Leveraged funds84,851105,74167,011−20,890
Asset managers and institutional52,608110,06764,669−57,459
Dealers and intermediaries109,86331,48425,500+78,379
Other reportable traders3,1241,0865,189+2,038
Nonreportable (below the reporting level)20,96323,031n/a−2,068

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

What were the net positions in VIX FUTURES futures each week?104 weeks, newest first, since 29 October 2024
Open interest and net positions in VIX FUTURES futures by week, newest first (contracts; net is ours)
WeekOpen interestLeveraged funds, netAsset managers and institutional, netDealers and intermediaries, netOther reportable traders, net
433,778−20,890−57,459+78,379+2,038
448,469+1,105−77,295+70,048+2,861
441,261+5,494−80,614+71,707+2,717
421,113−7,467−66,500+69,964+2,322
412,323−15,015−55,380+66,943+1,293
446,060−16,504−52,658+62,801+1,767
431,671−23,270−37,413+52,894+3,160
410,574−26,258−31,025+48,862+3,579
378,681−30,143−22,888+51,790+1,657
417,768−19,093−27,162+44,678+1,453
382,010−12,127−27,104+40,168+1,426
369,655+3,773−33,700+33,096+1,312
343,094−12,289−31,314+46,382+1,197
396,485+3,098−41,539+36,640+338
389,088+10,189−43,329+34,335+129
372,859+5,112−38,838+36,779+348
354,497−2,017−32,658+37,149−254
353,236−18,863−24,619+45,687−136
408,302−13,295−30,307+43,832−712
410,407−35,290−26,394+59,013+710
410,614−33,033−12,516+49,337−1,067
384,562−49,336+367+51,650+65
440,161−51,904−1,887+50,797+476
403,191−47,579−1,882+50,089−535
387,090−38,803−10,049+50,175+478
362,343−40,321−5,779+46,169+463
Show 78 more rows
WeekOpen interestLeveraged funds, netAsset managers and institutional, netDealers and intermediaries, netOther reportable traders, net
338,391−42,383−1,198+42,992+1,574
365,168−29,822+1,269+26,233+1,038
346,605−44,959+15,570+32,801−1,234
348,816−42,246+11,386+35,285−1,612
342,684−40,460+3,911+36,322−2,790
390,595−64,625+18,408+46,812−4,334
388,129−64,803+10,161+58,951−4,851
390,306−31,212−24,473+63,066−3,246
359,373−29,380−17,380+55,437−3,926
373,919−27,164−25,817+57,045−2,789
371,911−22,473−29,623+56,074−3,329
364,584−19,701−40,770+60,053−508
362,402−18,778−44,184+58,582−719
397,483−37,226−42,648+78,274+1,704
404,046−23,657−50,183+68,388+2,863
408,257−24,445−41,430+61,106+2,650
401,915−26,991−36,591+61,039+2,510
378,125−25,029−28,712+53,498+1,389
407,195−25,596−9,324+35,813+611
408,744−43,520−244+42,871+207
423,342−45,960+4,873+44,881−1,745
415,610−55,110+21,930+37,240−4,631
476,717−87,297+19,955+74,165−1,710
435,756−68,072+9,128+61,280−252
458,712−78,126+4,134+78,882−1,317
440,335−67,938+4,368+65,257−505
495,118−74,618+17,501+63,548−3,215
491,863−75,217−4,032+84,145−732
504,886−94,726−10,766+90,695+140
483,764−81,205−1,411+82,492+312
472,633−92,894+7,587+87,136−1,692
522,273−90,630+5,006+84,992−491
509,393−85,209+2,831+82,264−3,449
479,739−104,072+21,255+85,389−4,203
469,056−105,832+29,836+78,951−6,587
507,099−89,052+37,030+61,184−9,748
492,591−80,981+25,354+58,062−5,203
451,483−79,580+21,969+62,076−5,012
443,023−75,303+23,382+55,070−4,767
398,470−82,126+22,800+63,833−6,149
411,678−62,642+21,347+45,394−5,008
382,750−73,177+32,365+44,182−2,924
361,207−58,477+23,723+34,851−919
314,455−41,222+11,104+30,084−990
327,474−41,431+14,347+28,424+34
319,008−33,148+13,985+19,296+1,376
284,670−24,303+9,880+11,609+2,835
259,527−14,608+7,139+1,338+5,516
299,850−6,384+9,687−6,593+2,129
276,572+7,769+11,776−27,682+4,072
279,106−13,805+20,237−13,851+4,817
279,032−9,146+20,530−21,316+6,335
273,099−35,799+21,485+2,623+8,965
332,536−26,897+17,262−67+9,558
377,062−37,538+8,876+12,517+15,306
323,012−28,613+11,216+8,964+6,130
307,181−22,040+24,692−12,323+3,523
348,583−28,622+25,694−8,116+12,742
384,995−43,354+18,350+13,675+12,924
391,037−40,290+5,334+29,001+5,961
389,557−37,475+1,788+46,712−12,035
399,283−40,883+2,712+37,535−1,412
360,209−42,016−7,972+41,895+2,976
325,577−35,779−11,103+43,164+1,555
330,806−42,020+5,236+44,603−6,303
364,909−35,301+6,097+20,620+5,953
308,321−28,497+2,099+19,288+8,561
292,616−22,047+10+18,769+6,782
275,406−15,058−1,691+14,108+5,538
264,712+4,691−13,262+2,967+9,425
341,202−23,294−4,500+23,148+3,911
353,746+144−14,904+8,549+6,780
343,822+5,001−18,114+3,864+7,573
311,326−6,305−7,256+5,278+6,642
353,760−10,478+4,560+4,925+660
352,126−5,708+7,248−7,533+3,833
344,314−57,747+36,085+13,658+4,353
324,187−40,620+24,210+7,224+5,018

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite

What this number cannot tell you

  • Positions are those of the Tuesday the report is dated; the CFTC released the report on 23 October 2026.
  • A trader's group comes from the CFTC's own classification. Nonreportable positions are open interest less the reportable positions.
  • Net positions leave out spread positions, so a group's long and short do not account for all of its contracts.
  • Records and ranks are counted from the week of 2 June 2009, the start of this market's latest run of weekly reports. The CFTC can revise a week in a later report, and our collector keeps the earlier figure.
  • Contracts are not comparable between markets: the size of one is the CFTC's contract size above.
  • Market names are the CFTC's own, written as it writes them. 500metrics is independent and is not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by any index provider, exchange or company named in them.

Observed . Checked .

How to cite this

U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Commitments of Traders, Traders in Financial Futures report (futures only), VIX FUTURES - CBOE FUTURES EXCHANGE, week of 20 October 2026, released 23 October 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "What positions do traders hold in VIX FUTURES futures?", https://500metrics.com/futures-positions/vix.

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