A total of $1.3 billion worth of Bitcoin ($BTC) options are set to expire today, September 13, 2024, while an additional $298 million worth of Ethereum ($ETH) options contracts are to expire as well, injecting uncertainty into the cryptocurrency market.
With a combined notional value of nearly $1.6 billion, the expiry of these contracts, representing 23,000 BTC and 127,000 ETH, could trigger increased volatility in the coming days. According to analysts from Greeks.live, the put-to-call ratio for Bitcoin options contracts sits at 0.87, suggesting a bias towards put options, which give holders the right but not the obligation to sell BTC at a predetermined price.
The analysts noted that the “maximum pain point” for Bitcoin, the price at which most options contracts would expire worthless, is at $58,000. Ethereum options, they wrote, have a put-to-call ratio of 0.73, with a “maximum pain point” at $2,400.
Bitcoin is at the time of writing trading at around $58,200 after moving up more than 3.5% over the past week. The rise comes after a significant sell-off from around $64,000 late last month to a low under $53,000 in the beginning of September, before the cryptocurrency started recovering.
The analysts noted that the “maxpain point is once again keeping up with the price,” and that September was “weak as expected, with ETH in particular extremely weak” against other digital assets.
As CryptoGlobe reported, Bitcoin holders have moved around $750 million worth of the flagship cryptocurrency out of centralized exchanges in a single day this week, leading to largest net Bitcoin outflow since May.
Historically, similar outflows have been followed by price increases as often a lower supply on exchanges can lead to a price rise if demand remains steady or rises.
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