Bitcoin, Ether Trade Below 'Maximum Pain' Levels Ahead of $2.7B Options Settlement
A lot of put options are in-the-money, crypto options exchange Deribit's Lin Chen said.
While bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) have chalked out moderate gains in the past 24 hours, prices remain well below levels that are likely to inflict "maximum pain" on buyers of August expiry option contracts.
On Friday, Deribit, the world's leading crypto options exchange by open interest and volume, will settle 72,000 BTC August options contracts worth $1.9 billion and 535,000 ETH options contracts valued at $893 million.
The max pain levels for BTC and ETH settlements are currently at $28,000 and $1,800.
The popular theory is that writers or sellers of call options and put options often look to push the underlying asset's spo t price toward the max pain level to make their counterparties, the options buyers, suffer the most. They do so by buying/selling the cryptocurrency in the spot/futures markets.
So, assuming other factors remain constant, BTC and ETH could trade close to the respective max pain points in the next 24 hours. The max pain points will become invalid following the expiry. Deribit settles options on Friday at 08:00 UTC. On Deribit, one options contract represents 1 BTC and 1 ETH. The exchange controls nearly 90% of the global crypto options activity.
"Buyers of BTC and ETH put options are clear winners heading into the expiry," Deribit's Asia business development personnel Lin Chen told CoinDesk. "A lot of put options are in-the-money."
An in-the-money put is the one with a strike price higher than the going market rate of the underlying asset. It means the ITM put holder can sell the underlying asset at a price greater than the current market rate.
A put option gives the holder the right but not the obligation to sell the underlying asset at a predetermined price on a later date. A call gives the right to buy.
Most ether call options are set to expire out-of-the-money, thanks to last week's 8.3% slide. Bitcoin's open interest distribution paints a similar picture, as the feature image shows. The leading cryptocurrency by market value tanked over 10% last week, its biggest slide since the collapse of FTX in November.
Edited by Parikshit Mishra.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
You may also like
Zcash News Update: Buterin: Token-Based Voting Threatens Zcash’s Commitment to Privacy
- Vitalik Buterin warns Zcash against token-based governance, citing risks of privacy erosion and whale dominance over civil liberties. - Grayscale seeks to list Zcash ETF (ZCSH) via S-3 filing, potentially creating first U.S. privacy-focused crypto ETF with $196M assets under management. - Zcash’s price surged over 500% in two months amid governance debates, highlighting tension between privacy mission and market-driven governance models. - Buterin’s critique aligns with EU/US regulatory pressures on priv
South Korea's cybersecurity certification system is under threat following Coupang's unprecedented breach affecting 33.7 million users
- Coupang confirmed a 33.7M-user data breach, South Korea's largest privacy incident, exposing personal info like names, addresses, and partial order histories. - Suspected unauthorized access via overseas servers by a former Chinese employee, who is now under investigation for prolonged data extraction. - Authorities are probing Coupang for potential violations of strict data laws, with fines potentially exceeding the 2025 SK Telecom record of $92 million. - The breach highlights systemic cybersecurity fa
Bitcoin News Update: Bitcoin Faces Dual Challenge Amid Rising US-Venezuela Tensions
- Escalating US-Venezuela tensions under Trump and Maduro highlight Bitcoin's dual role as a speculative asset and sanctions-evasion tool amid geopolitical risks. - Nasdaq's proposal to boost BlackRock Bitcoin ETF options liquidity signals growing institutional acceptance, positioning crypto alongside major tech stocks. - Venezuela's use of stablecoins like USDT to bypass US sanctions mirrors tactics of other sanctioned regimes, raising concerns about crypto's role in undermining financial controls. - Mili
Ethereum Updates Today: Major Institutions Drive Bitcoin to $91K, Ethereum and Ontology Shape the Next Era of Cryptocurrency
- Bitcoin surged past $91,000 in late 2025 driven by institutional adoption, regulatory clarity, and post-halving bull cycles, with analysts forecasting potential $180,000 levels by mid-2026. - Ethereum's upcoming Fusaka upgrade (Dec 2025) introduces PeerDAS to enhance scalability and reduce Layer 2 costs, aiming to strengthen DeFi and institutional appeal despite ETH price dips. - Ontology's v3.0.0 MainNet upgrade optimizes tokenomics (ONT/ONG dual model), reduces inflation, and aligns with Ethereum stand
Trending news
MoreCrypto prices
More
