Bitcoin and Ethereum Face Billion-Dollar Options Expiration Tomorrow—Here’s What You Need to Know

With Bitcoin falling below $72,000 and Ethereum struggling to hold around $2,000 this week, attention has turned to the options market. Approximately $2.67 billion worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum options on Deribit will expire tomorrow at 11:00 AM Turkish time.

The pre-expiration chart shows a significant difference between the two cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin has a higher number of call options, while Ethereum has a higher number of put options. In both assets, the “max pain” level, which indicates the minimum total payout to option holders, is above today’s index price.

33,000 Bitcoin Contracts Approaching Expiration

According to today’s chart from Investin, which compiles Deribit data, there are 22,127 call and 11,119 put Bitcoin options open, expiring tomorrow. The total nominal value of these 33,246 contracts is estimated at approximately $2.37 billion, with the Bitcoin index currently at $71,353.

The put/call ratio, which is the ratio of put options to call options, is 0.50 for this expiry. In other words, there are approximately two call options for every put option. This ratio shows the distribution of contracts that remain open before expiry. Call and put options can also be part of hedging strategies where investors combine multiple contracts.

The maximum pain level for Bitcoin, calculated at $76,000, is approximately 6.5% above the index price on the same chart. Following today’s sell-off, the difference has exceeded $4,600.

Ethereum Put Options Lead, $2,000 Stands Out

The 148,741 Ethereum contracts expiring tomorrow have a nominal value of approximately $297.6 million. Of these contracts, 89,498 are put options and 59,243 are call options. The put/call ratio is 1.51. This means that for every 100 call options open, there are approximately 151 put options open.

Ethereum’s maximum price is $2,200. Today’s chart shows the $ETH index was at $2,001. There’s approximately a 10% difference between the two levels.

Another notable level in terms of near-expiration price is $2,000. Optionly’s weekly expiration chart, which combines data from Deribit and Derive, shows approximately 49,000 $ETH of put options at this strike price. If the settlement price remains below $2,000, these put options gain payout value. If it remains above, these contracts expire worthless.

The Hours to Watch for Compromise: 10:30–11:00

Deribit determines the settlement price at expiry using the time-weighted average of index values between 10:30 and 11:00 Turkish time. Therefore, the price movement of the last half hour is taken into account when calculating payments.

*This is not investment advice.