BTC options expiry triggers $1B liquidations

TLDR

Bitcoins latest quarterly options expiry coincided with a sharp selloff that wiped out over $1 billion in leveraged crypto positions, with BTC taking the biggest hit.

1. Around $1011 billion of BTC and ETH options expired today, and multiple analyses report roughly $1.31.5 billion of leveraged positions liquidated around the drop.
2. Options dealers were in a negative gamma regime with huge put interest near 60,000 dollars, so hedging flows and thin liquidity amplified the move and liquidations.
3. The key things to watch now are whether BTC can hold the 58,00060,000 dollar area, how open interest rebuilds after expiry, and whether ETF flows and funding stabilize.

Deep Dive

1. Size Of The Flush

Deribits quarterly expiry today is one of the biggest of 2026, with about 9.09.3 billion dollars in BTC options and roughly 1.6 billion dollars in ETH options expiring, around 10.611 billion dollars in total open interest.[^1]

As BTC dropped toward 58,000 dollars, data providers report large forced liquidations. One analysis cites about 1.48 billion dollars in liquidations in 24 hours, including roughly 665 million dollars in BTC positions.[^2] Another puts the one day tally near 1.26 billion dollars, with over 450 million dollars of BTC longs wiped out within an hour as price broke below 60,000 dollars.[^3]

Aggregate derivatives data shows BTC liquidations over the past 7 days around 1.29 billion dollars, versus only about 149 million dollars in the last 24 hours, suggesting the worst of the cascade likely hit ahead of the actual expiry window.

2. Why Expiries Amplify Moves

This expiry landed while the options book was heavily skewed: most calls were struck far above spot, while large put walls clustered around 60,000 dollars.[^1][^2]

Analysts highlight that BTC has been in a negative gamma regime, where options dealers hedge in the same direction as spot moves, which can amplify volatility rather than damp it.[^1] As spot slid below key strikes, hedging and de?risking pushed price lower, which in turn forced more liquidations of overleveraged longs.

At the same time, macro pressure (hotter PCE inflation and expectations of higher-for-longer rates) and ongoing spot ETF outflows added stress, so the options expiry acted more as an accelerant than a standalone cause.[^2]

3. Signals To Watch Next

1. Key levels: Many analyses treat 60,000 dollars as a line in the sand, with some warning of a possible slide toward the mid 50,000s if it fails convincingly.[^1][^3]
2. Open interest reset: Futures open interest has dropped on dated contracts but is rebuilding in perpetuals, hinting that some traders are re?entering after being flushed out.
3. ETF flows and funding: Large recent outflows from spot BTC ETFs and elevated demand for put protection show institutions are cautious; a turn back to net inflows and normalizing funding would signal reduced downside risk.

Conclusion

A very large BTC options expiry landed on a market already under macro and ETF-flow pressure, and that combination drove more than 1 billion dollars of liquidations as leveraged longs were forced out. The expiry itself mainly mattered through positioning and hedging mechanics, not as a magic price magnet. Going forward, whether BTC can keep the 58,00060,000 dollar zone, how quickly leverage rebuilds, and whether institutional flows stabilize will shape if this was a capitulation flush or the start of a deeper leg lower.

[^1]: Summary of the record quarterly expiry and positioning from a Bitcoin options analysis. [^2]: Liquidation and macro context from a crypto liquidation report. [^3]: Additional figures on the 1.26 billion dollar wipeout and strike concentrations from a Bitcoin crash recap.