Bitcoin and Ethereum Options Expiration: $10.34 Billion in Play

The notional value of $8.38 billion BTC and $1.96 billion ETH options contracts is set to expire and settle today. This significant event in the cryptocurrency market is expected to impact the prices of both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) as traders adjust their positions.

Today marks the expiration and settlement of a substantial number of options contracts for BTC and ETH. According to data from Greek.live, 80,000 BTC options and 603,000 ETH options are set to expire, with a combined notional value of $10.34 billion. The Put Call Ratio for BTC options is 0.68, indicating a slight preference for put options, while the ratio for ETH options is 0.43, suggesting a more balanced market.

The maximum pain points for BTC and ETH options are $98,000 and $3,300, respectively. These levels represent the strike prices at which the most options holders would experience losses if the underlying asset's price moves against their positions. Traders will be closely monitoring these levels as the settlement process unfolds.

The upcoming expiration of these options contracts comes at a time when the crypto market has been relatively calm, with traders mainly digesting the impact of former President Trump's policies over the past three months. The monthly expiration volume accounts for nearly 30% of the total open interest, and post-settlement, the open interest of quarterly options expiring at the end of March is expected to reach 50%.

Trump's presidency did not bring the anticipated large influx of funds to the crypto industry, but rather caused market weakness due to meme issuance and slow policy releases. However, long-term bullish factors remain, and the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates unchanged provides a stable macroeconomic outlook. In the coming week, market participants will focus on changes in U.S. government policy and ETF inflows.