Will Crypto Markets Keep Cranking When $2.8B Bitcoin Options Expire Today? 

Around 29,000 Bitcoin options contracts will expire on Friday, Nov. 22, and they have a notional value of around $2.84 billion.

Today’s options expiry is slightly smaller in magnitude than last week’s, but spot crypto markets are on fire, with peak prices being hit by several assets.

A huge $9 billion expiry event will occur at the end of the month, next Friday.

Bitcoin Options Expiry

This week’s batch of Bitcoin options contracts has a put/call ratio of 1.1. This is a rare scenario for BTC options when there are slightly more short (put) contracts expiring than long (calls). The max pain, or point at which most losses will occur, is $86,000, way below spot prices, which hit an all-time high of $99,000 on Friday morning.

Open interest (OI), or the value or number of options contracts yet to expire, is highest at the $100,000 strike price with $2.2 billion there, according to Deribit.

Crypto derivatives provider Greeks Live observed the massive Bitcoin rally towards six figures and Ethereum finally waking up.

It also commented on this week’s launch of spot Bitcoin ETF options for BlackRock’s IBIT fund, adding, “There is a significant inflow of US money into ETFs, and the spot bull market is being strongly driven by a number of favorable factors.”

“The market sentiment remains extremely optimistic at this point, with the risk of a BTC pullback mitigated due to the generalized market rally.”

22 Nov Options Data
29,000 BTC options are expiring with a Put Call Ratio of 1.1, Maxpain point of $86,000 and notional value of $2.84 billion.
164,000 ETH options are about to expire with a Put Call Ratio of 0.65, a Maxpain point of $3,050 and a notional value of $550 million.… pic.twitter.com/5ZRhIqbrJj

— Greeks.live (@GreeksLive) November 22, 2024

In addition to today’s Bitcoin options, there are around 164,000 Ethereum contracts expiring today. These have a notional value of $550 million, a max pain of $3,050, and a put/call ratio of 0.65, bringing Friday’s combined crypto options expiry notional value to around $3.4 billion.

Crypto Market Surges to ATH

Multiple all-time highs have driven total market capitalization to a new peak of $3.43 trillion on Friday, Nov. 22.

Bitcoin was leading the charge once again, tapping $99,261 in its latest ATH during the Friday morning trading session in Asia. The asset has gained 12% over the past week and is up more than 40% since Donald Trump won the US presidential election.

Ethereum had gained 9% on the day, topping out at $3,375, but it faced heavy resistance above it, despite its peers such as Solana and XRP pumping harder.

ETF Store president Nate Geraci listed the bullish events that have driven momentum for digital assets this week:

So far this week…

-Options trading approved for spot btc ETFs

-Spot btc ETF assets cross $100bil

-SEC Chair Gary Gensler stepping down

-Schwab CEO says will get involved in spot crypto

-19b-4s filed for 4 spot Solana ETFs

-Btc price nearing $100k

That’s in four days.

— Nate Geraci (@NateGeraci) November 22, 2024