Approximately $11 billion in Bitcoin options contracts expire Friday on Deribit, a major crypto options exchange, representing about a third of the platform's total Bitcoin options open interest.
The expiring contracts cover roughly 135,000 Bitcoin across 88,700 call options and 46,500 put options. About 86% of these contracts are out of the money, meaning they would have no value at current prices. The notional value—the face value of the contracts at today's market price—represents roughly $11 billion, though settling at current levels would result in approximately $130 million changing hands.
Bitcoin is currently trading near $81,500. The put-to-call ratio stands at 0.52, indicating calls outnumber puts nearly two to one, suggesting traders are positioned more bullishly. The heaviest call concentrations sit at $95,000 and $100,000, while the largest put cluster is at $70,000.
Traders monitor max pain—the price at which the most contracts expire worthless and option sellers face minimum payouts—which is currently positioned at $78,000 on Deribit, roughly $3,500 below market price.
Friday's expiry is the largest in recent months, with over 6,000 contracts traded in the past 24 hours. This compares to $6.4 billion that expired in August and $15 billion in March, though it is significantly larger than the $3.6 billion expiry from April 2021.
The timing coincides with recent Federal Reserve action. The Fed held interest rates at 3.75% to 4.00% on Wednesday in a 10-2 vote, with two officials voting to raise rates. The 10-year Treasury yield closed at 5.05%.
The next major Bitcoin options expiry is scheduled for December 25, with approximately 135,500 Bitcoin in contracts already set to expire—roughly the same size as Friday's batch.
