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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.backquant.com/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Gamma exposure (GEX) measures how much underlying delta dealers are forced to hedge for every $1 the underlying price moves. It’s the single most useful concept for understanding why crypto sometimes pins to a strike, sometimes accelerates through it, and where the next reversal is likely to happen.

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The intuition in one paragraph

When you buy an option, somebody else (a dealer / market maker) is the counterparty. To stay delta-neutral, the dealer hedges in the underlying. Gamma is the rate of change of delta with respect to the underlying price — so as price moves, the dealer’s delta hedge has to be adjusted. Net dealer gamma at a given strike tells you how much hedging pressure exists at that level. Positive net gamma = dealers buy on dips and sell on rallies (stabilizing). Negative net gamma = dealers sell on dips and buy on rallies (amplifying).

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What we compute for you

For every active option contract across Deribit, Bybit, OKX, and Binance, we compute the dollar gamma exposure (the USD impact per 1% spot move), sign it using the standard dealer-positioning convention (puts negative, calls positive), and aggregate the result per strike, per expiry, and per venue. You get the aggregated values directly — no reconstruction needed on your side. The /v2/gex/strike-profile endpoint is the strike-level aggregation; /v2/gex/levels distils that further into the trader-actionable levels below.

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Key levels you’ll see in the API

The /v2/gex/levels endpoint gives you the trader-actionable levels distilled from the full strike profile:
FieldWhat it meansHow traders use it
HVL (Hedging Volume Level)The strike where cumulative net gamma crosses zero closest to spotThe “gamma flip” — above HVL dealers stabilize, below HVL they amplify. Treat as a regime line.
call_resistanceThe strike with the largest positive gamma above spotThe wall dealers will defend by selling into rallies. Common reversal zone.
call_wall_2 / call_wall_3Second / third strongest call walls above spotWhere price might pin if it breaks call_resistance.
put_supportThe strike with the largest positive gamma below spotDealers buy on dips into this level. Common bounce zone.
put_wall_2 / put_wall_3Second / third strongest put supports below spotSuccessive support levels if put_support breaks.
odte_hvl / odte_call_resistance / odte_put_supportSame three levels but computed from 0DTE-only optionsIntraday-magnet levels; matters most in the last few hours of the trading day.

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How to read them in practice

Spot above HVL with strong call_resistance overhead — expect mean-reverting price action, dampened vol, dealers selling into rallies toward the call wall. Good environment for premium selling. Spot below HVL with strong put_support below — expect amplified moves on the way down, but a snap-back if price reaches put_support. Dealers will start buying. Spot crossing HVL — regime change. The stabilizing/destabilizing balance flips. Watch for vol expansion right at the cross. 0DTE levels different from all-expiry levels — common in the last hour before close. The 0DTE levels usually win for the close itself; the all-expiry levels matter more for the next session.

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What our /v2/gex/levels endpoint returns

Out of the box, you get all-expiry walls + 0DTE walls: 
{
  "all_expiry": {
    "hvl": 67000,
    "call_resistance": 70000,
    "call_wall_2": 72500,
    "call_wall_3": 75000,
    "put_support": 64000,
    "put_wall_2": 60000,
    "put_wall_3": 58000
  },
  "odte": {
    "hvl": 67500,
    "call_resistance": 68000,
    "put_support": 66500
  }
}
Add ?include=ranked,max_pain,expected_move,zones to also get:
  • ranked — top 10 strikes by absolute GEX (where the action concentrates)
  • max_pain — see the max pain page
  • expected_move — 1σ / 2σ implied range from ATM straddle
  • gamma_flip_zones — multiple-zero-crossing detail when the chain has more than one regime line

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Filtering by venue

Aggregating across all four venues smooths noise but can also hide venue-specific positioning (e.g. Deribit dealers vs retail-heavy Binance options). Use ?exchanges=deribit (or any subset) to recompute levels from a specific venue’s chain only.

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Filtering by strike window

Far-OTM strikes can have huge GEX from a small cluster of contracts and distort the picture. Use ?moneyness_min=0.9&moneyness_max=1.1 to clamp the analysis to ATM ±10%, or ?spot_window_pct=5 for a symmetric ±5% window. Both work on /v2/gex/strike-profile and /v2/gex/strike-expiry-heatmap.

Max pain

The strike where option writers profit most — different metric from GEX walls but often near them.

Greeks beyond delta

Vanna, charm, vega — what they measure and how to use them alongside GEX.

OPEX calendar

Why monthly/quarterly expirations dominate the GEX picture for a few days each month.

Multi-symbol bundle

Get GEX levels for BTC + ETH + SOL + HYPE in a single call.