A total of $1.1 billion worth of Bitcoin ($BTC) options are set to expire today, October 11, 2024, while an additional $510 million worth of Ethereum ($ETH) options contracts are to expire as well, injecting uncertainty into the cryptocurrency market that’s already set to deal with a $1.3 billion earthquake.
With a combined notional value of nearly $1.6 billion, the expiry of these contracts, representing 18,000 BTC and 212,000 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 0.91, 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 $62,000. Ethereum options, they wrote, have a put-to-call ratio of 0.4, with a “maximum pain point” at $2,450.
Bitcoin is at the time of writing trading at around $61,000 per BTC after enduring a significant sell-off earlier this month that saw it drop from around $64,000 to a $60,000 low from which it is currently recovering.
Etheruem, meanwhile, is at $2,400 after rising 1.7% over the past week amid the wider cryptocurrency market recovery. To the analysts at Greek.live a “market change could be just around the corner,” as Ethereum’s $2,300 support line and Bitcoin0’s $60,000 level have been contested numerous times.
As CryptoGlobe reported, over the past three days large Bitcoin holders, colloquially referred to as whales, have “sold or redistributed” around 30,000 BTC, the equivalent to more than $1.8 billion worth of the flagship cryptocurrency.
The sell-off falls in line with a recent prediction that suggests Bitcoin coul soon go “full bull” in a renewed rise that could see the cryptocurrency surpass the $80,000 mark, but before that occurs capitulation could be coming in a move that would take BTC below the $50,000 mark.
Featured image via Pixabay.
