Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Friday marks options expiration day, and recent weeks have seen an increase in derivatives trading, with futures volume on Binance increasing as traders brace for a significant change in volatility.
About 247,000 options contracts for Bitcoin and Ethereum are expected to expire today. The payout is less than a third of last week’s expiration event, which saw nearly 720,000 contracts delisted.
More than $4 billion in expiring options spread volatility amid mixed sentimentOh
Data on Deribit shows that more than $4.07 billion worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum options will expire today. For Bitcoin, expiring options have a notional value of $3.4 billion and a total open interest of 36,906.
Sponsored
Sponsored
With a Put-to-Call ratio of 0.91, the maximum pain level for Bitcoin options expiring today is $91,000, which is just below. The current price of BTC is $92,279.
Relative to their Ethereum counterparts, the notional value of ETH options expiring today is $668.95 million, with total open interest at 210,304.
Like Bitcoin, Ethereum options expiring today have a Put-to-Call ratio of less than 1, with Deribit data showing a PCR ratio of 0.78 as of this writing. At the same time, the maximum pain level, or strike price, is $3,050, which is a little less than The current price of ETH is $3,180.
The maximum level of pain is a vital measure in Trading digital currency options. It represents the price level at which most options contracts expire worthless. This scenario inflicts the greatest financial loss or “pain” on traders who hold these options.
It should be noted that the Bitcoin and Ethereum options that expire today are Much less than last week. On November 28, BeInCrypto reported that options expiration exceeded $15 billion, highlighting 145,482 BTC and 574,208 ETH contracts, with face values ​​of $13.28 billion and $1.73 billion, respectively.
A PCR ratio of less than 1 indicates that call options are traded more often than put options. So this indicates a bullish market bias for Ethereum, and a bearish market bias for Bitcoin which has more put options than call options.
Sponsored
Sponsored
With a PCR ratio of 0.91, the Bitcoin options market indicates an almost balanced sentiment with a small tendency towards hedging or taking a defensive stance. Traders are cautious, but not too cautious towards BTC.
This balanced stance comes as investors speculate on whether the market will rise or hedge their portfolios in the event of a selloff.
Ethereum has a PCR ratio of 0.78, which indicates that there are more call options than put options, and shows a more bullish stance. Traders are more bullish on ETH compared to BTC at the moment.
Options desks are seeing a subtle shift in focus
Despite the volatility of the spot price, the options data indicates a quiet but significant rotation towards the mid-2026 maturity, especially in Bitcoin.
The report said institutional offices are increasing their exposure based on… Price reductions expecteddemand for ETFs, and improved liquidity conditions.
Sponsored
Sponsored
Open interest on derivatives platforms continues to grow, with new flows signaling that traders are preparing for a multi-quarter rebound. These observations are in line with those of the derivative analysis company Laevitas.
The data indicate an increasingly mature derivatives market dominated by professional flows.
Analysts follow a bearish bias, but bullish cues are emerging
Despite the long-term optimism, analysts say short-term sentiment remains mixed. In the December 2 update, a description The position of Greeks.live traders is as follows:
“Cautiously bullish bias with traders as they identify funds and anticipate issues, although sentiment is moderate due to frustration with choppy price action and spurious moves.”
Sponsored
Sponsored
Greeks.live added that the slope of power options remains high, indicating that the market is still pricing in a short-term decline:
“Risk sellers are taking control of the market with short option strategies…avoid buying options during dips, learning from the February price turmoil from $100,000 to $78,000 to $95,000.” They wrote
However, the compression of volatility, especially in Bitcoin, has opened up opportunities in ETH options, as traders see attractive volatility levels in comparison.
Transfer the capital towards the return and keep it
Derebit echoes a wider shift towards thoughtful and sustainable strategies. As volatility slows and more capital enters this space, traders move from “5-10x” volatility to capital preservation and achieving a sustainable return.
As options expiration approaches today, traders should expect some volatility, which could impact short-term price action. However, markets may stabilize after 8:00 UTC today when contracts expire in Derebit as investors adjust to new trading environments.
