VIX Futures COT Report
CFTC Commitments of Traders · positions as of Tuesday 2026-10-20, released Oct 23, 2026 (the CFTC reports each Tuesday's close three days later) · next release Oct 30, 2026 (regular cycle; see the release schedule for holiday shifts)
VIX Futures positioning leans bullish - commercials buying (26w index 100), speculators crowded short (3y index 18).
How this read is built
- Commercials (hedgers) are net long and sit near the top of their 26-week range (COT index 100) - a bullish tilt in the traditional read.
- Large speculators are net short near the bottom of their 3-year range (index 18) - a crowded short, which historically leans bullish for the setup.
A description of how traders are positioned versus their own history - the standard Commitments of Traders interpretation, computed identically for every market. It is not a price forecast, a trading signal, or advice. How traders use positioning · how the read is computed.
As of the COT report, large speculators are net short 96,509 VIX Futures futures contracts (down 54 week-over-week), commercials are net long 98,577, and open interest is 433,778 contracts. Leveraged funds were net short 20,890 contracts as of (down 21,995 week-over-week), holding 84,851 long and 105,741 short.
Cite this data
FuturesBench, "VIX Futures COT Report," data as of 2026-10-20. https://futuresbench.com/cot/vix/#net-position Source: CFTC Commitments of Traders (public domain). CSV: https://futuresbench.com/data/cot/vix.csv
Embed this chart
<iframe src="https://futuresbench.com/embed/cot/vix/" width="100%" height="560" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" title="VIX Futures COT Report chart - FuturesBench"></iframe>
Reporting gap: the CFTC published no data for this contract code between and (about 24 weeks) - typically an exchange migration or relisting, when the contract traded under a different code. The chart breaks across the gap rather than drawing a line through it, and the series resumes afterward. Why this happens.
Positioning - as of Tuesday 2026-10-20
| Trader category | Net position | Weekly change | % of open interest | COT index 26w | COT index 52w | COT index 3y |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Large speculators | -96,509 | -54 | -22.2% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 18.2 |
| Commercials | 98,577 | +5,403 | 22.7% | 100.0 | 100.0 | 94.0 |
| Small traders | -2,068 | -5,349 | -0.5% | 25.9 | 29.8 | 38.0 |
Net = long − short (spread positions cancel). COT index: 0 = most net-short of the lookback, 100 = most net-long. How it's computed.
This week in numbers
- Small traders net position fell by 5,349 contracts to -2,068 (163.0% w/w) - the largest weekly change since 2026-07-28.
- Small traders flipped to net short (-2,068 contracts) as of 2026-10-20.
- Large speculators reduced their net position for a 4th consecutive week.
- Large speculators net position is at a 52-week low (-96,509 contracts).
- Commercials raised their net position for a 4th consecutive week.
Every sentence above is computed from the stored series - no commentary, no forecasts.
Traders in Financial Futures report - positions as of Tue 2026-10-20
| Trader category | Net position | Weekly change | % of open interest | COT index 26w | COT index 52w | COT index 3y |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dealer/intermediary | 78,379 | +8,331 | 18.1% | 100.0 | 99.0 | 89.6 |
| Asset manager | -57,459 | +19,836 | -13.2% | 28.6 | 22.6 | 19.7 |
| Leveraged funds | -20,890 | -21,995 | -4.8% | 49.9 | 68.1 | 73.2 |
| Other reportables | 2,038 | -823 | 0.5% | 66.8 | 81.7 | 42.9 |
| Small traders | -2,068 | -5,349 | -0.5% | 25.9 | 29.8 | 38.0 |
Full Traders in Financial Futures report history: CSV · switch the chart above to this report family for the full series.
VIX Futures leveraged funds positions, week by week
Leveraged funds long, short and net position in VIX Futures futures for the last 26 weekly COT reports (positions as of each Tuesday), from the CFTC Traders in Financial Futures futures-only report. Short = long minus net; spread positions are excluded from both.
| Report date | Leveraged funds long | Leveraged funds short | Leveraged funds net | Weekly change | Asset managers net | Dealers net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 84,851 | 105,741 | -20,890 | -21,995 | -57,459 | 78,379 | |
| 88,587 | 87,482 | 1,105 | -4,389 | -77,295 | 70,048 | |
| 89,535 | 84,041 | 5,494 | +12,961 | -80,614 | 71,707 | |
| 89,206 | 96,673 | -7,467 | +7,548 | -66,500 | 69,964 | |
| 79,433 | 94,448 | -15,015 | +1,489 | -55,380 | 66,943 | |
| 90,002 | 106,506 | -16,504 | +6,766 | -52,658 | 62,801 | |
| 91,185 | 114,455 | -23,270 | +2,988 | -37,413 | 52,894 | |
| 86,075 | 112,333 | -26,258 | +3,885 | -31,025 | 48,862 | |
| 78,872 | 109,015 | -30,143 | -11,050 | -22,888 | 51,790 | |
| 95,147 | 114,240 | -19,093 | -6,966 | -27,162 | 44,678 | |
| 83,434 | 95,561 | -12,127 | -15,900 | -27,104 | 40,168 | |
| 94,849 | 91,076 | 3,773 | +16,062 | -33,700 | 33,096 | |
| 79,888 | 92,177 | -12,289 | -15,387 | -31,314 | 46,382 | |
| 96,868 | 93,770 | 3,098 | -7,091 | -41,539 | 36,640 | |
| 100,776 | 90,587 | 10,189 | +5,077 | -43,329 | 34,335 | |
| 85,768 | 80,656 | 5,112 | +7,129 | -38,838 | 36,779 | |
| 73,565 | 75,582 | -2,017 | +16,846 | -32,658 | 37,149 | |
| 71,314 | 90,177 | -18,863 | -5,568 | -24,619 | 45,687 | |
| 86,619 | 99,914 | -13,295 | +21,995 | -30,307 | 43,832 | |
| 67,684 | 102,974 | -35,290 | -2,257 | -26,394 | 59,013 | |
| 80,763 | 113,796 | -33,033 | +16,303 | -12,516 | 49,337 | |
| 65,926 | 115,262 | -49,336 | +2,568 | 367 | 51,650 | |
| 76,102 | 128,006 | -51,904 | -4,325 | -1,887 | 50,797 | |
| 71,913 | 119,492 | -47,579 | -8,776 | -1,882 | 50,089 | |
| 77,895 | 116,698 | -38,803 | +1,518 | -10,049 | 50,175 | |
| 60,287 | 100,608 | -40,321 | +2,062 | -5,779 | 46,169 |
Every week back to 2006: VIX Futures TFF CSV.
Recent history
| Report date | Open interest | Large spec net | Δ | Commercial net | Δ | Small trader net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-20 | 433,778 | -96,509 | -54 | 98,577 | +5,403 | -2,068 |
| 2026-10-13 | 448,469 | -96,455 | -5,161 | 93,174 | +2,576 | 3,281 |
| 2026-10-06 | 441,261 | -91,294 | -11,684 | 90,598 | +12,669 | 696 |
| 2026-09-29 | 421,113 | -79,610 | -330 | 77,929 | +808 | 1,681 |
| 2026-09-22 | 412,323 | -79,280 | +7,305 | 77,121 | -4,870 | 2,159 |
| 2026-09-15 | 446,060 | -86,585 | +8,244 | 81,991 | -8,209 | 4,594 |
| 2026-09-08 | 431,671 | -94,829 | -10,644 | 90,200 | +10,857 | 4,629 |
| 2026-09-01 | 410,574 | -84,185 | -6,021 | 79,343 | +763 | 4,842 |
| 2026-08-25 | 378,681 | -78,164 | +11,282 | 78,580 | -10,742 | -416 |
| 2026-08-18 | 417,768 | -89,446 | -14,512 | 89,322 | +12,025 | 124 |
| 2026-08-11 | 382,010 | -74,934 | -13,825 | 77,297 | +11,707 | -2,363 |
| 2026-08-04 | 369,655 | -61,109 | +2,304 | 65,590 | -1,799 | -4,481 |
| 2026-07-28 | 343,094 | -63,413 | +13,448 | 67,389 | -8,009 | -3,976 |
| 2026-07-21 | 396,485 | -76,861 | -11,078 | 75,398 | +8,291 | 1,463 |
| 2026-07-14 | 389,088 | -65,783 | -1,659 | 67,107 | -418 | -1,324 |
| 2026-07-07 | 372,859 | -64,124 | -5,638 | 67,525 | +6,819 | -3,401 |
| 2026-06-30 | 354,497 | -58,486 | +8,288 | 60,706 | -8,137 | -2,220 |
| 2026-06-23 | 353,236 | -66,774 | -35 | 68,843 | +2,586 | -2,069 |
| 2026-06-16 | 408,302 | -66,739 | +7,681 | 66,257 | -6,202 | 482 |
| 2026-06-09 | 410,407 | -74,420 | -4,468 | 72,459 | -214 | 1,961 |
| 2026-06-02 | 410,614 | -69,952 | -15,468 | 72,673 | +15,443 | -2,721 |
| 2026-05-26 | 384,562 | -54,484 | +1,285 | 57,230 | +3,979 | -2,746 |
| 2026-05-19 | 440,161 | -55,769 | -6,808 | 53,251 | +4,197 | 2,518 |
| 2026-05-12 | 403,191 | -48,961 | -24,278 | 49,054 | +22,570 | -93 |
| 2026-05-05 | 387,090 | -24,683 | +3,159 | 26,484 | -1,890 | -1,801 |
| 2026-04-28 | 362,343 | -27,842 | -580 | 28,374 | +127 | -532 |
Full history, no login: CSV (2004-07-27 → 2026-10-20) · JSON
Contract facts
FAQ
- Are large speculators long or short VIX Futures futures?
- As of the 2026-10-20 COT report, large speculators (non-commercial traders) are net short 96,509 contracts in VIX Futures futures.
- What is the leveraged funds position in VIX Futures futures?
- As of the 2026-10-20 COT report, leveraged funds traders are net short 20,890 contracts (84,851 long, 105,741 short) in VIX Futures futures. The week-by-week table on this page lists the last 26 reports.
- How current is this VIX Futures COT data?
- The latest report is dated 2026-10-20 (positions as of that Tuesday's close), published by the CFTC on 2026-10-23. This page updates within minutes of each weekly release.
- Where can I download VIX Futures COT history?
- The full weekly series (2004-07-27 to 2026-10-20) is free at /data/cot/vix.csv - no login, no cap.
Learn: how to read this report · commercials vs non-commercials · glossary
Related markets
Source: CFTC Commitments of Traders, legacy futures-only report, contract code 1170E1. Dataset coverage 2004-07-27 → 2026-10-20. Methodology.