[Deribit: Bitcoin's $5.8 billion quarterly options expiration may trigger market volatility] According to CoinDesk, the cryptocurrency exchange Deribit said on September 25 that the Bitcoin market may become busy in the next two days as options contracts worth billions of dollars will expire on Friday. As of the time of writing, 90,000 BTC options contracts worth $5.8 billion and ETH options worth $1.9 billion need to be settled. Of the total $5.8 billion in Bitcoin open contracts, about 20% are "in-the-money" contracts, that is, they have favorable strike prices compared to the current market rate of cryptocurrencies. Similar positioning has also appeared in Ethereum options. For call options, in-the-money means that the strike price is lower than the current market rate, while the opposite is true for in-the-money put options. Both allow holders to exercise the right to buy and sell for profit, laying the foundation for market volatility. "About 20% of BTC options that expire are in-the-money," said Luuk Strijers, CEO of Deribit, in an interview. "This larger expiration time could increase market volatility or activity as traders close or roll positions, which could also affect prices." Rolling means closing an existing trade on an upcoming expiration date and opening a new trade on a subsequent expiration date to extend the holding period. In order to make a profit, sophisticated traders often choose to roll over profitable positions to allow profits to continue to grow. Market activity is likely to remain strong in the coming months, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decided to allow options linked to the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF (IBIT), which could accelerate institutional investor adoption. "One of the biggest potential drivers is ETF options. The SEC has expressed support, but the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have not approved it yet and are unlikely to do so this week," said Strijers. The way options expiring in the coming months are priced suggests a bullish market. "After the September expiration date, the put-call skew for Bitcoin and Ethereum is negative, which is a bullish indicator because call options are more expensive relative to put options," Strijers noted.