Bitcoin News

Story: $18.1 Billion Bitcoin and Ethereum Options Expire, Market Leans Bullish

By Sydney TheCMO

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Bitcoin Calls Stack Up at $90K and $100K. Deribit data puts Bitcoin inverse-options open interest at $16.13 billion, with another $2.

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The Rally That Built This Exposure. Both assets have moved sharply in recent weeks, and that's a big part of why the notional open…

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How Deribit's Expiry Mechanics Work. Deribit runs quarterly expirations on the last Friday of March, June, September, and December, all…

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A massive options wall is coming. Bitcoin and Ethereum contracts worth roughly $18.1 billion expire Friday, and the market is leaning hard on calls, according to Coinbase Markets.

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The numbers are pretty lopsided. Bitcoin's open-interest put/call ratio sits at 0.66, while its 24-hour volume ratio is even lower at 0.37. Ether's ratios come in at 0.61 and 0.

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Deribit data puts Bitcoin inverse-options open interest at $16.13 billion, with another $2.16 billion in Ether options set to expire the same day — numbers that line up close…

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The heaviest call concentration for Bitcoin sits at the $90,000 and $100,000 strikes. Bitcoin was trading between $86,149 and $86,791 on September 23, putting it roughly 4% below…

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Ether's call interest is spread more broadly, from $3,000 all the way up to $4,000. With Ether trading near $2,760, the $3,000 strike is about 8.7% above spot.

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That's a big run in a short window. And as prices rise, the notional value of existing options contracts goes up too — which is probably part of why the combined open interest…

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More context: Bitcoin and Ethereum Trading Volumes Surge to Highest Levels Since March

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Analysts tracking the setup say continued buying is needed to push Bitcoin toward those high strikes. That's not a controversial call — it's just math.

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Deribit's footprint in this market is hard to overstate. The exchange handles around 85% of Bitcoin and Ethereum options activity globally, which makes its expiry events…

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With that kind of dominance, Friday's settlement isn't just a bookkeeping event. Traders and market makers will be adjusting hedges as spot prices drift near the big strikes.

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More context: Bitcoin Surges Past $85,000 as Oil Prices Fall and Treasury Yields Retreat

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Positions can still shift before settlement. Traders close, roll, or add contracts right up until the last moment, so the final picture on open interest and put/call ratios…

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