TLDR
About $4 billion of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) options expire on Deribit today at 8:00 am (UTC).
- Bitcoin (BTC): 39,389 contracts, about $3.39B notional, put?call ratio ~0.52, per a market report.
- Ethereum (ETH): ~185K contracts, about $525M notional, put?call ratio ~0.72, per a news update.
- Positioning is call?heavy, but short?dated put demand has picked up this week, per an options overview.
Deep Dive
1. BTC Size And Bias
The bulk of todays expiry is in Bitcoin, with about $3.39B of notional expiring and a call?leaning skew. Reports also point to a put?call ratio near 0.52 and a max pain level around $98K, indicating many calls are out of the money at current prices, per the market report above.
If spot trades below heavy call strikes into 8:00 am (UTC), pinning effects near popular strikes can fade, and dealers hedging may reduce pressure after settlement.
2. ETH Size And Skew
Ethereums expiry is smaller at roughly $525M, with a put?call ratio near 0.72 and a max pain around $3,200, per the update above. That implies a milder call bias versus BTC and many out?of?the?money contracts at current spot.
ETH flows are less likely to dominate broader price action, but local pinning near active strikes can still affect intraday moves around settlement.
3. Flows And Impact
While open interest has been call?heavy into today, recent trading shows elevated demand for short?dated downside protection (puts) and a front?end volatility premium, suggesting caution after the weeks drawdown, per the options overview above.
- Deribit flow commentary highlights increased put demand and heavy activity at lower strikes in recent days.
- Elevated front?end implied volatility and put skew point to hedging rather than aggressive bullish re?risking.
Expect choppy price action around 8:00 am (UTC). If put hedges are unwound post?expiry without fresh selling, near?term pressure could ease; persistent hedging would keep downside risks alive.
Conclusion
Todays Deribit expiry is large by any measure and concentrated in BTC, with ETH notably smaller. Flows are call?tilted in open interest but caution has risen via short?dated puts. Watch 8:00 am (UTC) for potential pinning and post?expiry hedging shifts that can influence intraday direction.
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