Bitcoin and ether options totaling more than $14.6 billion are poised to expire on Friday on Deribit, in what is shaping up to be one of the year’s most significant derivatives events for 2025. The expiry shows a strong tilt toward downside protection for BTC, while ether’s positioning appears more balanced.
As of this writing, 56,452 BTC call contracts and 48,961 put contracts are due for settlement, representing a notional open interest of about $11.62 billion. Deribit remains the largest crypto options exchange, handling roughly 80% of global activity, and on its platform, one option contract represents one BTC or ETH.
A closer look at BTC open interest reveals heavy activity in put options with strike prices between $108,000 and $112,000. In contrast, the most popular call options cluster at $120,000 and higher. In practical terms, traders are buying near-the-money puts around BTC’s current price near $110,000, signaling hedges against dips, while calls at higher strikes reflect bets on further upside.
For ether, the picture is more bullish: 393,534 call contracts versus 291,128 puts, totaling about $3.03 billion in notional open interest. Notable concentrations appear in calls around strikes of $3,800, $4,000 and $5,000, with puts focused near $4,000, $3,700 and $2,200.
Deribit summarized the landscape by noting BTC’s expiry points to persistent demand for downside protection, while ETH looks more neutral. The timing, especially with Powell’s Jackson Hole signal in the backdrop, could help set market expectations for September.
Understanding the basics, options are contracts giving the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy (calls) or sell (puts) the underlying asset at a predetermined price by a future date. The idea of “max pain”—the strike level where option holders would incur the greatest losses as expiry approaches—has been debated for years. For this cycle, the implied max pain levels sit around 116,000 for Bitcoin and $3,800 for Ether.
What this could mean for markets going forward: sizeable expiry activity often influences near-term price action through hedging dynamics and gamma exposure. BTC’s bias toward puts suggests a protective stance among traders, potentially limiting downside moves in the immediate term, while ether’s mix indicates a broader range of outcomes. The event underscores liquidity and active positioning in crypto derivatives, signaling that participants are braced for volatility in September rather than signaling a definitive directional bet.
Summary: A large Deribit expiry with heavy BTC put interest and strong ether call presence highlights ongoing hedging and bullish bets in the options market. The mix suggests traders expect volatility ahead but differ on near-term direction, with BTC seen more as a hedge against downside and ETH as a more neutral-to-positive wager.
Positive note: The depth of liquidity and the scale of hedging activity reflect a maturing market where participants are actively managing risk while staying engaged in potential upside, which can contribute to healthier price discovery during periods of volatility.