• On October 6, approximately 14,000 Bitcoin options contracts with a notional value of $400 million are set to expire.

• About 200,000 Ethereum options contracts are also set to expire, with a notional value of $330 million.

• This week’s options expiry events are unlikely to have much impact on the already retreating spot market.

Friday is Bitcoin options expiration day, with total open interest (including Ethereum options) at $730 million. Crypto markets have retreated again this week and resumed their stagnation, but will today’s expiration event move them forward?

On October 6, about 14,000 bitcoin options contracts with a notional value of about $400 million will expire. Today’s options expiration event is not as big as last week, which was the end of the month and quarter.

Bitcoin options expiration

The biggest pain point for this batch of Bitcoin options today is $27,000, which is about $500 below the current spot price of the asset.

The price level with the most open contracts is called maximum pain. It is also the level at which the loss is the highest when the contract expires.

The put/call ratio for options today is 0.89, which means that long and short sellers are fairly evenly matched.

If you’re interested in Bitcoin derivatives trading, check out BeInCrypto’s guide here.

Bitcoin has driven this week’s uptrend, but key implied volatility remains low, Greeks Live noted, adding that holiday factors led to lower volumes during Asian time.

October and the fourth quarter have been on an upward trend in previous years, he added:

“The share of bearish put option positions remains high, and with liquidity continuing to deteriorate recently, a big market is likely to emerge this month.”

Ethereum options expiration

Around 200,000 ethereum options contracts are also set to expire on October 6. They have a notional value of $330 million, bringing the combined value of both to $730 million.

Additionally, the put/call ratio for Ethereum contracts is 0.87, which is very similar to the ratio for Bitcoin derivatives.

This week’s options expiry events are unlikely to impact the spot market, which has been falling.

Since its brief surge to $28,500 on Monday, Bitcoin has fallen 3.5% to trade at $27,485 at the time of writing. Without any additional impetus, it could head back towards the $27,000 support level.

Meanwhile, Ethereum has fallen 6.6% since Monday's surge, falling to $1,620 during Asian trading on Friday. ETH is currently facing support just below $1,600. #BTC #ETH