As we approach mid-December, $2.74 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) options contracts expire today.
According to data from Deribit, one of the largest exchanges, 21,000 Bitcoin option contracts worth $2.1 billion are expiring today. The put-call ratio of these options is 0.83, while the maximum pain level is around $98,000.
Max pain refers to the strike price that has the most open option contracts. This price is the level at which the largest number of option holders will lose money when the options expire. The put-call ratio indicates the ratio of call and put options available in the market.
In addition to Bitcoin, 164,000 Ethereum options contracts worth over $640 million are also expiring today. These options have a put-call ratio of 0.68 and a maximum pain level of $3,700.
Market makers cautious
This week, altcoin markets in particular have seen larger corrections compared to last week. As the end of the year approaches, investors have started focusing on options expiring on the first Friday of 2024.
“The last two weeks of options market data suggest that market makers are starting to take a more cautious approach,” derivatives analyst Greeks.live said. Additionally, market fluctuations led to a small increase in implied volatility (IV).