Can $2.5B Crypto Options Expiry Boost Market Momentum? 

Friday, August 9, will see around 32,000 Bitcoin options contracts expire with a notional value of around $1.9 billion.

Today’s options expiry event is slightly smaller than last week’s, so its impact on spot markets is likely to be limited.

Crypto Options Expiry

This week’s big batch of Bitcoin options has a put/call ratio of 0.71, meaning more call (long) contracts are expiring than puts (shorts). The max pain, or point at which most losses will be made, is at $60,000, which is just below current spot prices following today’s rally.

There is still a lot of open interest (OI), or contracts yet to expire, at $65,000, $70,000, and $75,000 strike prices, according to Deribit.

Crypto derivatives provider Greeks Live commented that crypto market sentiment has returned following a softer stance by Japan’s central bank.

It added that major-term implied volatility (IV) is down but still higher than before the crash, “and with the sharp volatility, it’s hard for IVs to fall sharply for a short period of time.”

Aug. 9 Options Data
32,000 BTC options are about to expire with a Put Call Ratio of 0.71, a Maxpain point of $60,000 and a notional value of $1.9 billion.
206,000 ETH options are about to expire with a Put Call Ratio of 0.96, Maxpain point of $2,950 and notional value of $560… pic.twitter.com/soKryrB4Hw

— Greeks.live (@GreeksLive) August 9, 2024

In addition to today’s Bitcoin options, there are 206,000 Ethereum options about to expire. These have a notional value of $560 million, a put/call ratio of 0.96, and a max pain point of $2,950, which is way above current spot prices. This brings the total crypto options expiry to $2.5 billion in notional value.

Crypto markets rebounded strongly on Thursday and into Friday’s Asian trading session, with total capitalization reaching $2.23 trillion. They were primarily led by strong moves by BTC, which rallied after a death cross, and ETH, following a retail dip buying spree.

Other Options News

In other crypto options news, the CBOE has filed a beefed-up rule change proposal for options on spot Bitcoin ETFs. The CBOE, Nasdaq, and NYSE American filed for options on spot BTC ETFs in January but were stonewalled by the SEC in March and April.

On Aug. 9, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart commented that the latest refiling could suggest that there has been feedback from the SEC.

Meanwhile, Grayscale, Bitwise, and NYSE American applied to the SEC for a rule change to list options on three spot Ether ETFs on Aug. 7. Options provide more flexibility than futures as they give traders the option to sell contracts at a set price or set date.