26,000 Bitcoin Options Are Expiring—Could This Finally Make You Rich? 🤑

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Friday, May 9: 26,000 Bitcoin options contracts are expiring. That’s right, approximately $2.57 billion is on the line, which frankly sounds like the sort of number you’d make up to impress at a party, but is alarmingly real. Somewhere, there’s presumably a lovely derivatives trader clutching a stress ball and a bag of Haribo. 🍬

This week’s big event appears to be a rerun of last week’s—muted trading, mild tension, a general sense that maybe, just maybe, something dramatic will happen. Except now the spot market is having some sort of caffeinated fit and shooting higher, which means we might upgrade from yawning to, say, breathing-even-faster-than-normal excitement levels. Hold onto your hats. Or your Bitcoin, probably.

Bitcoin Options Expiry (Not a Spy Thriller, Sadly)

Let’s talk ratios: the put/call ratio is perched at 0.91. What does this mean? Basically, buyers and sellers are split more evenly than opinions at a dinner party on AI, with a teeny-tiny edge to the ‘puts.’ Meanwhile, the ‘max pain’ point is at $93K—a phrase that makes it sound as though losing money is somehow character-building. That point is a casual $10K under the current price, so, bracing for financial existential dread there. 😬

Open interest is heaviest at the $100K strike price (because dreaming big costs the same as dreaming small), totaling around $1.8 billion. Optimists, assemble! Bulls think the market will rocket higher. Meanwhile, the gloomier souls have stacked more than a billion dollars at both the $80K and $85K levels—spot the pessimists nursing their black coffee. Too bad, bears. The market’s in full “I just had three espressos” mode.

Options Expiry Alert:

At 08:00 UTC tomorrow, over $2.8B in crypto options are set to expire on Deribit.
$BTC: $2.57B notional | Put/Call: 0.91 | Max Pain: $93K
$ETH: $257M notional | Put/Call: 1.20 | Max Pain: $1.8K

BTC just tagged $99K. With expiry ahead, positioning…
— Deribit (@DeribitOfficial) May 8, 2025

Earlier this week, before the market’s sugar rush, a (surely weary) analyst at Greeks Live described things as “boring chop with traders looking to capitalize on time decay while maintaining downside exposure.” In other words: nobody was having much fun and everyone was waiting for something to happen. It’s all so… poetic.

Suddenly, we’re up 5% in total market cap and the ol’ Bitcoin rangebound channel? Blasted clear out of the water. Party hats on.

“While rate cuts now look less likely by June, any dovish surprise or hint at easing could fuel a sharp relief rally across risk assets,” said Deribit earlier. Translation: if central bankers so much as blink encouragingly, markets will lose their collective minds.

Let’s not forget our supporting act: 164,000 Ethereum contracts are also expiring, to the tune of $257 million notional. Their max pain? $1,800 a pop, with a put/call ratio of 1.2. In total, that’s $2.8 billion of crypto options expiring. Yes, truly, Friday finance is the new Friday night rave for people who own several screens and no emotional boundaries.

Crypto Market Outlook: The Bit Where Numbers Go Brrrr

The grand crypto pile is now $3.33 trillion—a three-month high, powered by Bitcoin and Ethereum. Bitcoin flung itself 4.3% higher in one day, hitting a stonking $103,461, setting new records for “moments when investors remember their lost cold wallets.” Now, it’s just 5.4% away from January’s all-time high. Everyone: breathe calmly into a paper bag.

But, surprise! Ethereum actually wore the glittery crown today, leaping more than 20% to clamber above $2,200, all in celebration of its shiny new Pectra upgrade. In case you missed it, ETH surged over 50% in a month. Yes, that’s more excitement than the entire last season of any prestige streaming drama. 🎉

Also starring on the crypto catwalk with double-digit moves: Dogecoin, Cardano, Sui, Chainlink, Avalanche, and Stellar. Somewhere, Shiba Inu dogs are probably barking joyously. Or maybe just winking ironically.

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2025-05-09 08:30