Tag: Deribit

Another Friday has come around, which means another batch of Bitcoin and Ether options contracts are expiring as spot markets remain in reset mode.

Around 44,000 Bitcoin options contracts will expire on Friday, Oct. 17, and they have a notional value of roughly $4.8 billion.

This expiry event is a little larger than last week’s, but there is unlikely to be any impact on spot markets, which have been mostly in decline this week.

The US government remains in shutdown, and trade tariff tensions still loom, but the longer-term backdrop of ending quantitative tightening and increasing liquidity through rate cuts remains bullish for crypto.

Bitcoin Options Expiry

This week’s batch of Bitcoin options contracts has a put/call ratio of 0.83, meaning that there are slightly more long contracts expiring than shorts, as the bears take control. Max pain is around $116,000, according to Coinglass.

Open interest (OI), or the value or number of Bitcoin options contracts yet to expire, is highest at $140,000, which has reached $2.2 billion at this strike price on Deribit. There is also over $2 billion in OI at $125k and $120k, but short sellers have targeted $110k, $108k, and even $95k as popular strike prices with over $1.3 billion in OI at each level. Total BTC options OI across all exchanges is around $61 billion, very close to an all-time high, according to Coinglass.

Skew across maturities has flipped deeper into negative territory as demand for downside protection rises.

BTC options flow showing renewed appetite for puts over calls. pic.twitter.com/phT0TuY2bG

— Deribit (@DeribitOfficial) October 16, 2025

Bitcoin options market data indicates that the share of bearish trades has risen markedly, reported crypto derivatives provider Greeks Live on Thursday.

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“More than $1.15 billion, or about 28 % of total options volume, has flowed into shallow out‑of‑the‑money (OTM) puts expiring this week and this month, with the $10,400 to $10,800 strike range being the most active.”

“The group is cautiously bearish with expectations of further downside, though some members see potential bounce opportunities near lower support levels,” it stated in a separate post.

In addition to today’s batch of Bitcoin options, around 251,000 Ethereum contracts are also expiring, with a notional value of $985 million, max pain at $4,100, and a put/call ratio of 0.81. Total ETH options OI across all exchanges is around $15.4 billion. This brings Friday’s combined crypto options expiry notional value to around $5.7 billion.

Spot Market Outlook

Total market capitalization is ending the week in the red, declining 2.7% on the day to $3.77 trillion. Crypto markets are now down almost 14% since their peak on Oct. 7.

Bitcoin led the losses, dumping to support at $108,000 during late trading on Thursday, and there have been few signs of a recovery during the Friday morning Asian trading session.

Ether also weakened, failing to hold above $4,000 and falling back to $3,900 at the time of writing. Meanwhile, the altcoins were a sea of red with larger losses for BNB, Solana, Dogecoin, Sui, and Avalanche.

Around 33,700 Bitcoin options contracts will expire on Friday, August 22, and they have a notional value of roughly $3.8 billion.

This expiry event is smaller than last week’s and unlikely to influence spot markets, which have started to move higher after a mid-week correction.

All eyes are on the Federal Reserve Chair speaking at Jackson Hole today, as a hawkish stance could induce more volatility, and markets are already starting to react.

Bitcoin Options Expiry

This week’s batch of Bitcoin options contracts has a put/call ratio of 1.32, meaning that there are quite a few more short contracts expiring than longs, as short sellers increase following the correction. There is a max pain point of $118,000 where most losses will be made on expiry.

Open interest (OI), or the value or number of BTC options contracts yet to expire, is highest at $140,000, which has surged to almost $3 billion at this strike price on Deribit. There is also around $2 billion OI at $120,000 and $130,000 strike prices as the bull speculators load up on contracts, but $110,000 is still a popular strike price for shorts with $1.7 billion in OI.

Additionally, total Bitcoin futures OI currently stands at $81 billion, which has fallen from recent record highs, according to CoinGlass.

Options Expiry Alert
At 08:00 UTC tomorrow, over $4.8B in crypto options are set to expire on Deribit.$BTC: $3.83B notional | Put/Call: 1.31 | Max Pain: $118K$ETH: $948M notional | Put/Call: 0.82 | Max Pain: $4,250

BTC expiry tilts put-heavy, while ETH call interest… pic.twitter.com/AGuHa2Txxs

— Deribit (@DeribitOfficial) August 21, 2025

Crypto derivatives provider Greeks Live said on Thursday, “With the Fed’s Jackson Hole meeting approaching, opinions in the options market are divided.”

“Short-term implied volatility declined, indicating that institutional investors are not very optimistic that this meeting will bring about significant volatility.”

In addition to today’s tranche of Bitcoin options, there are around 220,000 Ethereum contracts that are also expiring, with a notional value of $947 million, a max pain of $4,250, and a put/call ratio of 0.82. This brings Friday’s combined crypto options expiry notional value to around $4.8 billion.

Crypto Market Outlook

The market recovery was very short-lived, and the sell-off has resumed this Friday morning in Asia. Total capitalization is down 2% to $3.89 trillion, and the altcoins are leading losses.

Bitcoin has fallen back to support at $112,000, but again did not break below this key level and recovered back to $113,000 at the time of writing. However, sentiment has waned, and further losses look more likely than a big pump.

Ethereum has mirrored its big brother, dropping 1.7% in a fall back to the $4,200 level, which is holding as support, for now.

The altcoins were in worse shape with heavier losses for Binance Coin, Solana, Chainlink, and Hyperliquid.