Crypto Options Traders Turn Bearish as $2.5B Expiry Event Looms

Around 26,000 Bitcoin options contracts will expire on Friday, April 4, and they have a notional value of roughly $2.1 billion.

This week’s event is more modest than average and much smaller than last week’s massive end-of-month and end-of-quarter expiry event.

The impact on spot markets is likely to be minimal as spot traders are still reeling from the Trump administration’s wide-sweeping global tariff announcement on Wednesday.

Bitcoin Options Expiry

This week’s batch of Bitcoin options contracts has a put/call ratio of 1.27, meaning that there are more put (short) contracts expiring than calls (longs). There is also a max pain point of $85,000, which is where most losses will be made.

Moreover, open interest (OI), or the value or number of BTC options contracts yet to expire, is falling at higher prices, with around $850 million at $90,000 and $100,000 strike prices, according to Deribit.

There is also more than $900 million in OI at the lower $80,000 strike price and over $700 million at $70,000 as derivatives traders lose confidence in higher prices and turn bearish on the longer time frames.

Options Expiry Alert!

Last week’s quarterly expiry brought the heat, this week’s setup is quieter, but positioning still matters.

At 08:00 UTC tomorrow, ~$2.5B in crypto options are set to expire.$BTC: $2.16B notional | Put/Call: 1.27 | Max Pain: $85K $ETH: $371M… pic.twitter.com/zPezzcVn1B

— Deribit (@DeribitOfficial) April 3, 2025

Crypto derivatives provider Greeks Live said the group was “predominantly bearish, expecting continued choppy price action” in an options market update this week.

“Traders are positioning for more blood and four more years of chop with many selling calls, particularly at the $87k and $90k to $94k levels for April 4th expiry,” it stated.

Greeks noted the diminishing bullish sentiment, stating “There’s skepticism about upward movement with one trader noting nobody is ready to ‘bullieve’ anymore.”

In addition to today’s tranche of Bitcoin options, there are around 204,000 Ethereum contracts that are also expiring today, with a notional value of $372 million, a max pain point of $1,850, and a put/call ratio of 1.32. This brings Friday’s combined crypto options expiry notional value to around $2.5 billion.

Crypto Market Outlook

Spot markets have continued to retreat this week with a 6.5% decline in total capitalization since this time last Friday, dropping it to $2.75 trillion at the time of writing.

Bitcoin remains weakened, having fallen below $81,500 in an intraday low before a minor recovery. It reclaimed $83,000 but fell below it again during Friday morning trading in Asia, suggesting that further downside pressure remains.

Ethereum is at bear market lows, having dumped below $1,800 again and trading at levels last seen in October 2023.

Meanwhile, altcoins across the board continue to weaken as market sentiment turns bearish.