A significant batch of crypto options is set to expire today, which typically brings some movement and volatility to the crypto market. While Bitcoin itself struggles to break above key resistance levels, approximately €2.94 billion worth of BTC options are on the chopping block today. But this time, the markets seem barely moved by it - or is this the calm before the storm?
Bitcoin Options Expiring #
Today, a package of approximately 37,000 Bitcoin options worth about €2.94 billion is expiring. Options in crypto are contracts that give you the right (but not the obligation) to buy or sell a specific cryptocurrency at a fixed price within an agreed time. They are often used to speculate on price movements or to protect investments against losses.
The expiration of $3.4 billion worth of crypto options can cause volatility as many traders close, adjust, or roll over their positions in a short time. This creates sudden extra buying and selling pressure, especially around important price levels.
According to Coinglass data, the ratio between puts (bets on decline) and calls (bets on rise) is nearly equal at 0.94. This simply means that buyers and sellers are keeping each other roughly in balance. The price level where most contracts would expire worthless, the max pain, is around $91,000.
A large portion of the open contracts is on Deribit, the main options exchange for crypto. There, there’s particularly high interest around the $100,000 zone, where another €2.3 billion in open positions are hanging. These are mainly bullish traders hoping Bitcoin moves toward that level. Short sellers are focusing on lower zones around $80,000 and $85,000, with €1.7 billion in positions. When you add everything up, there’s currently about €47 billion in Bitcoin options open across all platforms combined.
“The main question remains whether the current zones around $95,000 to $100,000 really form the eventual bottom,” states crypto options provider GreekLive. They see that the market is cautiously optimistic, with traders thinking that a bottom has indeed been set and are now counting on an increase.
Options Market Growing Larger #
The options market has grown enormously: the total volume for this year is already 36% higher than in 2024. This is mainly because more and more institutional parties are active here. October was even the busiest month ever with nearly 1.5 million traded contracts, followed by November.
Not only Bitcoin options are expiring today. Ethereum also has about 210,000 contracts expiring, worth $572 million. There, max pain is at $3,050.
The price of Bitcoin keeps running into the same wall. The price keeps falling back whenever it approaches $93,000, a level that has proven to be strong resistance multiple times in the past week. Ether is facing a similar barrier around $3,200.