Key Points
- $1.54 billion of Bitcoin and Ethereum options will expire today as whales continue to sell off.
- The put-to-call ratio for Bitcoin options is 0.71 while Ethereum’s ratio is 0.37.
- Maximum pain points are $62,000 for Bitcoin and $3,350 for Ethereum.
- Prices are impacted by more whales selling off and governments banning crypto.
Today sees the expiration of around $1.54 billion worth of bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) options — an event referred to as ‘max pain’ by derivatives traders due to its potential impact on spot prices.
For Bitcoin, the notional value represented by today’s expiring options is $1.04 billion; there are 18,339 contracts set to expire. As per data provided by Skew, these contracts have a put-to-call ratio of 0.71 (a higher proportion of calls versus puts), with the maximum pain point standing at $62,000.
By contrast, ether’s expiring options have a notional value of $501.12 million across 162,782 contracts; this equates to a put-to-call ratio of 0.37, with the maximum pain point identified at $3,350.
$1.04 Billion in Bitcoin Options Expire Today Amid Increased Crypto Whale Sell-Offs #Billion #Bitcoin #Options #Expire #Today #Amid #Increased #Crypto #Whale #SellOffs https://t.co/2FNS0MoqmI
— CoinWebKo (@CoinWebKo) July 5, 2024
Analysts Predict Stabilization Post-Expiry
According to analysts from Greece. Live some recent market sell-offs have seen the crypto space incur substantial damage.
BTC dropped from around $60k to as low as $56,964 while ETH declined from roughly $3304 down to about $3060.
Currently trading near $$57,037 and $$3,083 respectively both are down -3% over the past 24hrs.
Bitcoin’s short-term implied volatility has increased by 10%, along with a rise in the Deribit Implied Volatility Index (DVOL) of 3%; these metrics suggest an increasingly nervous market.
Ethereum’s volatility parameters have also risen, though less sharply than those of Bitcoin; skew values currently imply a bearish market sentiment.
Whale Sell-Offs and Market Impact
Several long-term whales have been selling off in recent weeks — including government entities.
Notably, on-chain data revealed that the German government’s crypto wallet sent 3k BTC (worth about $174.3m) to various destinations including major exchanges like Bitstamp, Kraken, and Coinbase.
According to the Greeks. Live the distribution of transactions has grown more complex: there is a marked increase in BTC block put volume, suggesting whales are actively adjusting their positions ahead of last week’s quarterly expiry.
For ETH, whales appear to be expecting lower volatility — indicative of a more cautious outlook.
As ever with Bitcoin and Ethereum options expiry events, much will depend on how the price action evolves after today’s event concludes; option expiries can often act as a magnet for spot prices once they pass through ‘the strike.’
So traders will be watching closely for signs of stabilization post-expiry; at least until next week when the new monthly options cycle kicks into gear.
