YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Today, on January 10th, a total of 19,300 Bitcoin options contracts with a notional value of $1.8 billion are set to expire. This significant event has garnered attention as the crypto markets continue to experience declines this week.
Bitcoin Options Expiry: Key Data Points
The Bitcoin options expiry today has a put/call ratio of 0.65, indicating that more traders are holding call options compared to puts. According to Deribit, open interest remains high at the $120,000 strike price, totaling $1.48 billion.
There is also notable open interest at the $100,000 and $110,000 strike prices, amounting to over $1 billion combined. Despite this, implied volatility levels are low. Crypto derivatives provider Greeks Live noted that short-term implied volatilities have slightly rebounded but remain at low levels, with the market pricing in future volatility unchanged.
Deribit reported that leveraged positions are not as prominent as they were during Bitcoin’s earlier six-figure runs. Futures trading currently favors traders taking short positions through puts. However, call options still dominate trader sentiment overall.
Ethereum Options Expiry Adds Pressure
In addition to the $1.8 billion Bitcoin options, today’s expiry also includes 140,000 Ethereum options contracts. These Ethereum options have a notional value of $455 million and a put/call ratio of 0.47, reflecting slightly more balanced sentiment compared to Bitcoin.
Combined, the Bitcoin options expiry and Ethereum contracts bring today’s total notional value to $2.2 billion, highlighting the scale of this week’s events. Ethereum has also seen price declines alongside Bitcoin.
Crypto Market Correction Continues
The ongoing crypto market correction has resulted in a 4.4% decrease in total market capitalization over the past day, dropping to $3.37 trillion. Bitcoin slipped to an intraday low of $91,250 before slightly recovering to $93,000 during early Asian trading hours.
Since reaching its peak of $100,000 on January 7th, Bitcoin has experienced a 9% loss and is now approaching the lower bounds of its price channel, which has held since mid-November. The market remains under pressure as traders respond to U.S. inflation concerns and speculation about potential Bitcoin selloffs by the U.S. government.