Crypto Options Expiry: $6.1B Bitcoin and Ethereum Contracts Set to Expire Amid Mixed Signals
The crypto options expiry this Friday will see $6.1 billion worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum contracts expire on Deribit. Bitcoin options account for around 40,000 contracts valued at $4.8 billion, with a put/call ratio of 0.90 and peak open interest at the $140,000 and $120,000 strikes. Ethereum options total roughly 287,000 contracts worth $1.3 billion, a put/call ratio of 1.0 and max pain near $3,600. Spot markets rallied to a record $4.25 trillion cap, supported by a single-day Deribit volume of $10.9 billion and Binance futures volume of $2.55 trillion in July. After the expiry, total market capitalization dipped 4% to $4.1 trillion as BTC fell below $118,000 and ETH slipped under $4,500 before partial recoveries. This crypto options expiry event reflects balanced flows and profit-taking, pointing to a neutral impact on near-term price trends while offering liquidity events for active traders.
Neutral
Both summaries highlight a large $6.1 billion crypto options expiry split between BTC and ETH, with balanced put/call ratios and high open interest at key strikes. Pre-expiry rallies in spot market capitalization and record derivatives volume were followed by a modest 4% pullback, indicating profit-taking rather than a directional breakout. The even distribution of bullish and bearish bets suggests limited short-term price momentum, while the size of the expiry offers liquidity events that could spur volatility without establishing a clear uptrend or downtrend.