As the week comes to a close, approximately 21,700 Bitcoin options contracts valued at around $1.8 billion are set to expire today. This expiry represents a decrease in contract volume compared to last week, indicating a decrease in derivatives trading activity.

The cryptocurrency market has faced a decline of about $200 billion since the beginning of the week due to various factors such as escalating trade tensions, unrest in Japan’s bond market, and delays in U.S. cryptocurrency regulations.

Bitcoin Options Expiry

This week’s Bitcoin options exhibit a put/call ratio of 0.75, suggesting a higher number of call options (or bullish positions) than put options (bearish positions). According to data from Coinglass, the max pain point is around $92,000, exceeding current market prices, implying that several options may expire worthless.

The open interest (OI) for Bitcoin options remains concentrated at key levels, with the highest at $100,000 strike, representing a notional value of $2 billion. Further, $1.1 billion remains at $85,000 and $90,000, reflecting increasing bearish sentiment.

Overall, total open interest across all exchanges has risen since the beginning of the year, now totaling $36 billion.

“Expiry positioning is tightly clustered around key strikes, keeping spot sensitive into the cut,” stated a representative of Deribit, adding, “Geopolitics and trade policy uncertainty remain the macro backdrop, supporting hedging demand and keeping volume reactive.”

In tandem, around 118,000 Ethereum contracts are also set to expire today, valued at approximately $346 million, with a put/call ratio of 0.86 and a max pain at $3,250. This signifies an aggregate notional value of about $2.1 billion across all crypto options expiries.

Market Outlook

As for the spot market, total capitalization has declined by 1% today, erasing earlier gains. Bitcoin dipped to a low of $88,560 but has since rebounded to around $89,500 at the time of this report. However, it has struggled to reach $90,000, indicating a strengthening bearish market.

Ether’s price has also fallen below $3,000, currently trading at $2,950, while most altcoins have seen declines between 2% and 3% as uncertainty grips the market.