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DATA · BINANCE OPEN INTEREST

Binance Open-Interest Data: Null vs Zero - Handle Missing Fields Correctly

Binance offers a live open-interest value and a historical statistics series. The history omits periods with no trades and does not backfill them.

By ChartsPod Editorial Team · Reviewed by ChartsPod Research
Published · Updated · 5 min read

Short answer

Binance's openInterest endpoint returns the current OI for a symbol; openInterestHist returns sumOpenInterest (contracts/coins) and sumOpenInterestValue (USD) per period for the latest month. The documentation states periods with no trades are omitted and gaps are not backfilled. So a missing period is not zero open interest — positions still existed — it means no statistic was produced. Forward-filling is reasonable for display but should be flagged; zero-filling is wrong.

Fields and what missing values mean

FieldNull / absent meansZero / empty means
sumOpenInterestOmitted period: no statistic—
sumOpenInterestValueOmitted period: no statistic—
openInterest (live)Request failed: unknown—
CMCCirculatingSupplyAbsent: don't infer—
History rangeOlder than ~1 month: unavailable—
Binance Open Interest: how to read each fieldBinance Open Interest: how to read each field: sumOpenInterest — Omitted period: no statistic; sumOpenInterestValue — Omitted period: no statistic; openInterest (live) — Request failed: unknown; CMCCirculatingSupply — Absent: don't infer; History range — Older than ~1 month: unavailable.sumOpenInterestOmitted period: no statisticsumOpenInterestValueOmitted period: no statisticopenInterest (live)Request failed: unknownCMCCirculatingSupplyAbsent: don't inferHistory rangeOlder than ~1 month: unavailable
Binance Open Interest: missing vs zero, field by field. Original ChartsPod editorial graphic.

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Handling policy

Policy for this sourcePolicy for this source: Never zero-fill omitted periods; Forward-fill only with a flag; Store both units; Archive yourself for > 1 month; Expect ascending timestamps.POLICY FOR THIS SOURCENever zero-fill omitted periodsForward-fill only with a flagStore both unitsArchive yourself for > 1 monthExpect ascending timestamps
Apply this policy to every binance open interest request. Original ChartsPod editorial graphic.

Illustrative: a 5-minute OI chart drops to zero for 15 minutes during a quiet weekend. The open positions didn't vanish; the parser filled three omitted periods with 0.

Conclusion

Related: Open Interest in USD vs Coins in Crypto: How to Read the Data With Price Context, Binance Funding History: Null vs Zero - Handle Missing Fields Correctly.

Forward-filling is reasonable for display but should be flagged; zero-filling is wrong.

Review Binance Open-Interest Data with bar replay before using it live.

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Questions readers ask

Does a missing OI period mean zero OI?

No; periods with no trades are omitted.

How far back does OI history go?

About the latest month.

Which unit should I use?

Store both; compare like with like.

Sources and methodology

Field definitions come from DEX Screener's API reference, CoinGecko's onchain API documentation and Binance's Spot API documentation, read 17 October 2026. Where a schema was not visible in the documentation, this guide says so and describes defensive handling rather than asserting field behaviour.

  1. Binance: USD-M market data (long/short ratios, OI statistics, klines) — ratio definitions, 30-day retention, kline open/close time.
  2. Binance: USD-M Futures market data API — trades, depth, funding and open interest.

This article explains research tools and workflows. It is not financial advice, does not recommend buying or selling any asset and does not predict prices. Crypto derivatives carry a risk of rapid and total loss of margin.

CHARTSPOD EDITORIAL EDITION · RESEARCH AND EDUCATION ONLY · NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE.