Overview
- Roughly $15.9 billion of bitcoin options plus about $2.1 billion of ether options are scheduled to expire on Friday at 08:00 UTC, a quarterly settlement that represents one of the largest expiries of the year.
- The expiring book is call‑heavy with put/call open‑interest ratios near 0.69–0.71 and large call notional clustered in the $85,000–$100,000 strikes while puts sit mainly at $60,000–$75,000.
- More than half of the roughly $9.4 billion in BTC call notional is already in the money with Bitcoin trading in the mid‑$80,000s, which matters because market makers short calls hedge by buying spot or futures as prices rise.
- Deribit’s 07:30–08:00 UTC TWAP settlement and the fact that the expiry coincides with U.S. durable goods and consumer‑sentiment prints plus the CME futures settlement mean hedges, rolls, and data surprises could compress several market tests into a few hours.
- Traders will watch how dealers unwind or roll hedges after settlement and whether ETF flows and genuine spot demand replace option‑related buying, because the outcome will help determine short‑term ranges, liquidity and the path for Bitcoin prices.