Bitcoin Options Worth $15.9 Billion Set to Expire Friday

Bitcoin (BTC) options worth $15.9 billion are scheduled to expire Friday on Deribit, with a call-heavy book representing roughly 37% of the exchange’s total Bitcoin open interest and potentially affecting short-term hedging flows.

The expiry is set for 4 a.m. ET (8:00 UTC) Friday, Sept. 25. Ether (ETH) options worth another $2.1 billion expire at the same time, bringing the combined settlement to about $18 billion.

The expiring Bitcoin contracts include approximately $9.4 billion in calls and $6.5 billion in puts, producing a 0.69 put/call open-interest ratio. A reading under 1 means calls account for more open interest than puts.

Deribit’s total Bitcoin open interest stands at roughly $43.5 billion. The largest call concentrations are around $85,000, $90,000, $95,000 and $100,000, while put protection is concentrated near $60,000, $70,000 and $75,000.

About 55% of the call notional is in the money, while the puts are almost entirely out of the money. Overall, roughly one-third of the Bitcoin expiry book is in the money.

Bitcoin spot references ranged from $85,500 to $85,925.35, above the $75,000 maximum-pain level. Maximum pain is the price at which option buyers collectively face the greatest loss at expiry; it is a market reference rather than a guaranteed settlement price.

Deribit’s expiring options are European-style and cash-settled. The delivery price is calculated from a 30-minute time-weighted average price between 3:30 and 4 a.m. ET (7:30-8:00 UTC). No BTC or ETH is physically delivered, and in-the-money contracts are automatically exercised and paid in cash.

Deribit CEO Luuk Strijers said dealer hedging may have contributed to Bitcoin’s move through the $80,000-$87,000 range. He added that the related hedging activity may decline after settlement, allowing short-term volatility to increase and the prevailing trading range to reset.