11 Apr, 2025
How Will Markets React to $2.2B Bitcoin Options Expiring Today?
Altcoin News, Bitcoin News, Crypto Analytics, Crypto Industries & Currency Updates

Around 28,000 Bitcoin options contracts will expire on Friday, April 4, and they have a notional value of roughly $2.25 billion.

This week’s event is pretty similar to previous weeks, where derivatives trading has been somewhat muted, so the impact on spot markets is likely to be minimal.

Markets have been extremely volatile this week, dumping to a five-month low before bouncing back on the Trump administration’s global trade tariff flip-flops.

Bitcoin Options Expiry

This week’s batch of Bitcoin options contracts has a put/call ratio of 0.88, meaning that the short and long contract sellers are pretty closely matched. There is also a max pain point of $82,000, which is where most losses will be made.

Moreover, open interest (OI), or the value or number of BTC options contracts yet to expire, is highest at the $70,000 strike price, with just over a billion dollars in open contracts betting that Bitcoin will fall further.

However, there is a similar amount of OI at the $100,000 strike price as the bulls are maintaining their positions, according to Deribit.

Crypto derivatives provider Greeks Live said the group was “cautiously bullish” after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs, “though many remain skeptical this rally will be sustained,” it added.

“Key levels being watched are $85K as a near-term target and $100K as a longer-term resistance, with traders debating whether this news-driven pump will eventually be faded.”

Greeks also commented that several traders noted this was a “clear case of insider knowledge” as heavy buying occurred in the $75,000 to $77,500 range hours before the 90-day tariff pause announcement.

In addition to today’s tranche of Bitcoin options, there are around 183,000 Ethereum contracts that are also expiring today, with a notional value of $283 million, a max pain point of $1,750, and a put/call ratio of 0.92. This brings Friday’s combined crypto options expiry notional value to around $2.5 billion.

Crypto Market Outlook

Crypto market capitalization is back in the red, having lost 3.6% over the past 24 hours and declined to $2.65 trillion.

After reclaiming $83,000 on Thursday, Bitcoin sank back below $79,000 in late trading in reaction to lower-than-expected CPI figures before recovering marginally to reach $80,000 during Friday morning trading in Asia.

Zooming out, the asset has been steadily downtrending since mid-January, having declined 26% from its all-time high.

Ethereum is still in bear market territory, having slumped 4% on the day in a fall to $1,540. However, the rest of the altcoins were mixed with minor daily gains for Cardano (ADA), Avalanche (AVAX), and Hedera (HBAR).

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