Expiry of $4.7B Crypto Options Looming: Impact on Market Volatility?

In the world of cryptocurrencies, the upcoming options expiries for Bitcoin and Ethereum are causing a stir, with a combined notional value of approximately $4.7 billion set to expire on Friday.

The notional value of the expiring Ethereum contracts stands at around $1.3 billion, while this week's batch of Bitcoin options contracts has a notional value of approximately $3.4 billion. The max pain point for Ethereum options expiry is $4,400, and for Bitcoin, it's $112,000.

The short-term implied volatility (IV) for Bitcoin is currently at 40%, while ETH's short-term IV is at 70%, indicating higher volatility for Ethereum. This increase in short-term volatility for both Bitcoin and Ether was reported by crypto derivatives provider Greeks Live on Thursday.

The put/call ratio for this week's Bitcoin options contracts is 1.38, indicating more short contracts expiring than longs. This suggests a bearish sentiment among traders. For Ethereum options contracts, the put/call ratio is 0.78, indicating a slightly bullish sentiment.

The major institutions impacting the current trend of crypto options on Binance and Deribit in September 2025 are primarily Deribit, which holds about 75% of Bitcoin's weekly options expiry volume, followed by OKX (13%), with Binance and Bybit each holding around 5%. These exchanges have seen significant activity in short (put) options during recent $4.3 billion Bitcoin options expiries, highlighting major market moves in short options trading.

The strike price with the highest open interest (OI) for Bitcoin options is $140,000, with a value of $2.5 billion on Deribit. On the other hand, the strike price $95,000 is popular for short sellers, with $1.8 billion in OI for Bitcoin options. There is around $1.7 billion in OI for Bitcoin options at the strike price of $130,000.

Ether prices pulled back to $4,330 after hitting resistance above $4,400. Bitcoin, after consolidating around $111,300 after a drop from $112,000 resistance, has been rangebound at these levels for almost two weeks.

The total capitalization of the crypto market has slightly decreased to $3.91 trillion. The altcoins are predominantly in the red as the week comes to a close.

It's important to note that these expiries could potentially influence the price movements of both Bitcoin and Ethereum in the short term. Traders and investors should keep a close eye on these developments and adjust their strategies accordingly.