Market Anticipation Grows as $3B in Crypto Options Near Expiration Today

As another week comes to a close, approximately 38,000 Bitcoin options contracts will be expiring today, valued at about $2.5 billion. This expiration is larger than that of the previous week.

Currently, the crypto market is grappling with a bearish trend, having lost around $125 billion since the start of the week, as both retail and institutional participants continue to withdraw.

Bitcoin Options Expiration

This expiration cycle shows a put/call ratio of 0.76, indicating a more substantial number of expiring call options (long positions) compared to puts (short positions). The ‘max pain’ price is set around $75,000, above current market prices, which suggests many contracts may expire worthless.

Open interest (OI) remains strongest at $60,000, while significant interest is also accumulating around $50,000, translating to over $1 billion on Deribit as short-selling bets rise. Overall, BTC options’ OI has increased this month, now totaling $36.6 billion across all exchanges.

According to derivatives analyst ‘Laevitas’, a ‘bear put spread’ strategy is being employed on Deribit, which incorporates purchasing a higher-strike put while selling a lower-strike put with the same expiration.

“With BTC stabilizing and volume cooling from panic levels, the key question is whether expiry acts as a magnet toward $75K or clears the way for the next directional move,” stated Deribit.

At 08:00 UTC tomorrow, crypto options worth over $2.9 billion will expire on Deribit, with $2.53 billion tied to BTC.

“Put options continue to dominate the market, with over $1 billion in BTC put options traded today, accounting for 37% of the total volume,” commented Greeks Live this week, adding that most of these are ‘out-of-the-money’ options priced between $60,000 and $65,000.

Additionally, about 217,000 Ethereum contracts are set to expire, valued at $406 million, with a put/call ratio of 0.89 and total ETH options OI close to $7 billion. Consequently, the approximated total value of today’s crypto options expiries is $2.9 billion.

Outlook for the Spot Market

The total market cap has declined by another 1.5% today to roughly $2.34 trillion as the sell-off continues, with Bitcoin trading just above $65,000 and falling to just above $66,000 during this morning’s Asian trading session. Analysts are generally bearish, suggesting prices may slide near or below the previously established price of $55,000. Meanwhile, Ethereum struggles to maintain value below $2,000.