This Friday, May 2, approximately 27,000 Bitcoin options contracts are set to expire, carrying a notional value of around $2.54 billion. This event is relatively typical when compared to previous weeks, even as derivative trading in the cryptocurrency market has seen a slowdown, while spot market activity indicates signs of recovery.
Bitcoin Options Expiry
This week’s options contracts reflect a balanced market dynamic with a put/call ratio of 1, indicating an equal distribution between short and long positions. Notably, a max pain point has been identified at $90,000, which signifies the price level at which most participants will incur losses upon expiration.
The open interest (OI), which represents the value or total number of BTC options contracts that have yet to expire, is concentrated at the $100,000 strike price with approximately $1.5 billion. This suggests a bullish sentiment as derivatives traders anticipate upward price movements. However, a considerable amount of OI remains at the $80,000 and $65,000 strike prices, indicating that bearish traders are maintaining their short positions, as reported by Deribit.
Options Expiry Alert
At 08:00 UTC tomorrow, over $2.85B in crypto options are set to expire on Deribit.$BTC: $2.54B notional | Put/Call: 0.95 | Max Pain: $90K
$ETH: $316M notional | Put/Call: 0.88 | Max Pain: $1,800Market shows strong BTC call stacking above $95K, what… pic.twitter.com/imA4XY34Eq
— Deribit (@DeribitOfficial) May 1, 2025
In a recent market update, derivatives analytics provider Greeks Live noted that implied volatility has been on a decline, particularly in the short and medium term. Analysts indicated that the market is not forecasting significant volatility in the near future.
“Despite the BTC price oscillating around $95,000, market sentiment on the cryptocurrency front is moderate, with signs of improvement.”
According to insights from Deribit, the derivatives market remains subdued, with low BTC volatility and neutral short-term trading structures. Funding rates, which are the fees traders incur to maintain positions, hover close to zero with occasional negative spikes.
In addition to the Bitcoin options expiring today, there are approximately 175,000 Ethereum contracts set to expire with a notional value of $317 million, a max pain point of $1,800, and a put/call ratio of 0.87. This aggregates the total notional value of Friday’s crypto options expiry to around $2.85 billion.
Crypto Market Outlook
The crypto market appears to be closing the week positively, with total capitalization edging upwards to approximately $3.12 trillion following a week of sideways trading.
Bitcoin continues to lead the pack, reaching an intraday high of $97,340 on Thursday. At the time of writing, BTC was trading just below $97,000 during the Friday morning trading session in Asia, reflecting a 3% increase since the previous week.
Ethereum has also seen small gains, hitting $1,860, which marks its highest price in a month. Nonetheless, prices remain low compared to previous market highs, with only a modest 2% rise.
Other altcoins showcasing positive performance today include Dogecoin, Avalanche, Litecoin, and Hyperliquid.
The relevance of this week’s $2.5 billion Bitcoin options expiry cannot be understated as it could influence market movements in the coming days, providing an essential touchpoint for traders and investors alike.
