Another week is ending with a fresh wave of crypto options contracts set to expire as spot markets continue to slide.
About 38,000 Bitcoin options contracts expire on Friday, February 13, representing a notional value of roughly 2.5 billion dollars. This figure is slightly higher than last week’s expiry. Meanwhile, the broader crypto market has shed around 125 billion dollars since the beginning of the week, reflecting worsening sentiment and continued withdrawals from both retail and institutional investors.
Bitcoin Options Expiry
This week’s Bitcoin contracts show a put to call ratio of 0.76, indicating more call options than puts are expiring. According to Coinglass, the max pain level stands near 75,000 dollars, which is above the current spot price, leaving many contracts out of the money at expiry.
Open interest remains concentrated at the 60,000 dollar strike price and is building at 50,000 dollars, where more than 1 billion dollars in contracts are positioned on Deribit as bearish sentiment grows. Across all exchanges, total open interest in Bitcoin options has climbed to 36.6 billion dollars this month.
Derivatives analytics firm Laevitas reported the presence of a bear put spread strategy on Deribit. This strategy involves purchasing a higher strike put while selling a lower strike put with the same expiration date.
Deribit noted that with Bitcoin stabilizing and trading volumes easing from panic driven levels, traders are watching whether expiry will pull prices toward 75,000 dollars or pave the way for a new directional move.
Analytics provider Greeks Live stated that put options continue to dominate activity, with more than 1 billion dollars in Bitcoin puts traded in a single day, accounting for 37 percent of total volume. Most of these contracts are out of the money, concentrated between 60,000 and 65,000 dollars. This positioning suggests that institutions expect further downside over the next one to two months.
In addition to Bitcoin contracts, around 217,000 Ethereum options are also expiring today, carrying a notional value of 406 million dollars. The max pain level for Ethereum stands at 2,150 dollars, with a put to call ratio of 0.89. Total open interest in Ethereum options across exchanges is approximately 7 billion dollars. Combined, the total value of today’s crypto options expiries is close to 2.9 billion dollars.
Spot Market Outlook
Total crypto market capitalization has fallen another 1.5 percent to 2.34 trillion dollars as selling pressure persists. Bitcoin slipped to just above 65,000 dollars in late Thursday trading and hovered near 66,000 dollars during Friday’s Asian session.
Market analysts largely maintain a bearish stance, with some projecting a potential bottom near or below Bitcoin’s realized price of 55,000 dollars. Ethereum remains under pressure below 2,000 dollars and recently touched an intraday low of 1,900 dollars. Continued weakness in Bitcoin could weigh further on Ethereum in the weeks ahead.
