Could This Result in Increased Market Declines?

On Friday, May 30, approximately 92,500 Bitcoin options contracts are set to expire, representing an estimated value of around $10 billion.

This event is particularly notable, occurring at the month’s end, which may lead to increased market volatility following a period of decline in recent days.

Bitcoin Options Expiry

The current set of Bitcoin options exhibits a put/call ratio of 0.87, indicating a slightly higher number of long positions compared to shorts, reflecting a cooling sentiment. Additionally, a max pain point is identified at $100,000, roughly $6,000 below current market prices, marking the price level where the majority of losses will occur at expiration.

Open interest (OI), which denotes the total value or number of outstanding BTC options contracts, is highest at the $120,000 strike price with $1.7 billion, followed closely by $1.6 billion at the $110,000 strike price, suggesting ongoing confidence among bullish traders, as per data from Deribit.

Options Expiry Alert: At 08:00 UTC tomorrow, over $11.7 billion in crypto options are set to expire on the exchange. Bitcoin’s total is approximately $10.03 billion, with a put/call ratio of 0.87 and a max pain point of $100,000. Ethereum accounts for about $1.67 billion, with a put/call ratio of 0.83 and a max pain point of $2,300.

Higher strike calls lead OI, indicating a general market sentiment…

In an update from May 30, a crypto derivatives firm noted, “Market sentiment remains optimistic regarding Bitcoin reaching new highs soon.”

They mentioned a declining put/call ratio for the upcoming delivery, stating, “Bitcoin has held above $100,000 for the first half of this year.”

“Institutions in the crypto space are not responding significantly to the recent highs, with low anticipation for a rapid surge, preferring instead a gradual ascent,” they added.

Besides Bitcoin options, about 624,000 Ethereum contracts are also expiring today, with an estimated value of $1.62 billion, a max pain point of $2,300, and a put/call ratio of 0.81, bringing the total notional value of crypto options expiring today to roughly $11.5 billion.

“The upward momentum for Ethereum appears to have started to slow, as the market reassesses ETH’s price and overall volatility, which has seen a slight increase,” the firm commented.

Market Conditions

The crypto market has seen an intensified decline over the past day, with total capitalization dropping by 4.4% to $3.46 trillion.

Bitcoin is at the forefront of this downturn, falling below $106,000 in the early trading hours on Friday, registering a 2% decrease for the day.

Ethereum is also experiencing diminishing momentum, with a 5% drop bringing its price beneath $2,600 this morning.

As typical of market downturns, altcoins are predominantly in the red, with marked losses occurring for Solana, Dogecoin, Cardano, Hyperliquid, Chainlink, and Avalanche.