This Friday sees the expiration of a significant amount of Bitcoin options, setting the stage for possible increased fluctuations in the market.
The week has been a rollercoaster for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, with the value dipping to $61,500 on March 20, only to see a minor rebound thereafter.
The expiration of approximately 25,300 Bitcoin contracts set for today, March 22, might trigger further instability in the market.
Although this week’s expiry is a bit smaller compared to the last, an enormous expiration worth nearly $10 billion is anticipated at the month’s end.
Details on Bitcoin Options Expiration
The batch of Bitcoin derivatives set to expire today is valued at $1.8 billion. The ratio of puts to calls for these options stands at 0.57, indicating a predominance of calls (long positions) over puts (short positions).
Notably, there is close to $1 billion in unsettled contracts, particularly at the $65,000 strike price, as reported by Deribit. Other strike prices with significant call interest include $60K, $70K, and $75K.
According to the crypto derivatives analytics firm Greeks Live, the market has reacted positively to the Federal Reserve’s expected decision not to alter interest rates, allowing Bitcoin to recoup its previous session losses.
“The current data on options, highlighting high levels of both realized and implied volatility, suggests a balanced dynamic between bullish and bearish positions, underscoring the market’s underlying optimistic sentiment.”
Moreover, a considerable number of Ethereum contracts, approximately 253,000, are also due to expire today. These contracts are worth about $885 million and have a put/call ratio of 0.51.
The most notable open interest for ETH is at the $4,000 strike price, amounting to roughly $659 million, with $564 million at the $3,000 mark.
Cryptocurrency Markets See RedThe total market capitalization has seen a 2.5% decline, falling to $2.6 trillion as the market correction progresses. Since reaching a peak on March 13, the crypto market has shed about $236 billion, as per CoinGecko.
At the time of this update, Bitcoin has experienced a drop of nearly 1.4%, with its price at $66,218, while Ethereum has seen a 0.5% decrease to $3,515 in the Friday morning Asian trading session.
Except for Binance Coin (BNB) and XRP, which recorded slight increases, all other altcoins were trending downward.