Approximately $5 cardinal successful bitcoin (BTC) options contracts are acceptable to expire connected Deribit this Friday astatine 08:00 UTC, adding to an already volatile crypto market.
Bitcoin’s prolonged consolidation had kept Deribit’s volatility scale (DVOL) successful a downward inclination passim 2025. However, aft bitcoin’s crisp decline, DVOL spiked to 52 earlier retreating backmost beneath 50—signaling a impermanent surge successful marketplace uncertainty.
The caller terms driblet beneath $90,000 has near a bulk of options out-of-the-money (OTM) and traders facing important unrealized losses.
An enactment allows the holder the right, but not the obligation, to bargain oregon merchantability an underlying plus astatine a circumstantial terms wrong a definite clip period.
According to Deribit data, retired of the $5 cardinal of notional worth that is owed to expire, $3.9 cardinal (78%) of it is owed to expire out-the-money (OTM), meaning these contracts volition expire worthless.
Almost 100% of calls are OTM, which are bullish bets, arsenic the bitcoin terms dropped importantly implicit the past fewer days, leaving investors with a important magnitude of unrealized losses.
While, the remaining $1.1 cardinal (22%), was in-the-money (ITM) with it being dominated with puts. ITM puts are investors having their onslaught prices supra the spot price, meaning they clasp value.
However, max symptom is astatine $98,000, that is, $10,000 higher than the existent spot price. Max symptom is the terms astatine which enactment sellers, typically institutions, execute maximum profit, portion buyers acquisition the top magnitude of losses.
As the max symptom terms is truthful overmuch higher than the spot price, this could incentivize options sellers to propulsion bitcoin terms higher person to the symptom level, according to PowerTrade.
"With the extremity of the period approaching, bitcoin options traders should instrumentality note. Max Pain for Feb. 28 sits astatine $98,000, with a monolithic $5 cardinal notional value. This means the highest unfastened involvement is clustered here, incentivizing marketplace makers to support bitcoin adjacent to this price. Expect accrued volatility and imaginable terms gravitation toward this level," PowerTrade said connected X.
Let's spot if the alleged max symptom mentation holds true.