According to CryptoPotato, approximately 21,800 Bitcoin options contracts, with a notional value of around $1.33 billion, are due to expire on Friday, April 19. This figure is slightly lower than the previous week's expiry event. The crypto markets have experienced a significant downturn throughout the week, with Bitcoin potentially losing its psychological price level of $60,000.
The expiring batch of Bitcoin contracts has a put/call ratio of 0.63, indicating that there are nearly twice as many call (long) contracts expiring as puts (shorts). Despite the market's downturn, the bulls continue to dominate the derivatives markets, with the most open interest at the $80,000 strike price. There is $881 million worth of long contracts at this level, with over $700 million in open interest at both the $70,000 and $75,000 strike prices. The open interest at the $60,000 level, which is closer to the current spot prices and maximum pain point, is just $453 million.
Crypto derivatives tool provider Greeks Live noted that despite the 'extreme panic spreading in the market' this week, with Bitcoin losing $60,000 and Ethereum losing $3,000, major term options implied volatility is falling significantly. Implied volatility refers to future measures of market volatility derived from expiring derivatives contracts. Greeks Live added that 'the long side of Ethereum is more fragile and has limited ability to lead the market.'
In addition to the Bitcoin options expiry, 297,000 Ethereum options contracts, with a notional value of $960 million, are also set to expire. These contracts have a put/call ratio of 0.42, indicating that longs significantly outnumber shorts.
The total market capitalization has remained flat at $2.37 trillion, but markets have begun to trend downwards again during the Friday morning Asian trading session. Bitcoin, which is still correcting, dipped sharply to $60,000, where it found support and bounced back to $62,000 within an hour. Ethereum, on the other hand, dropped to $2,876 before recovering, but it had not reclaimed the psychological $3,000 level at the time of writing and was trading at $2,989. The altcoins were predominantly in the red, with the exception of Toncoin (TON), which had gained 9% on the day.