On Friday, January 10, approximately 19,300 Bitcoin options contracts are set to expire, with a notional value estimated at around $1.8 billion.
This week’s expirations mirror last week’s, which did not directly influence spot markets. Recently, Bitcoin has been on a downward trend after its latest attempt to breach the six-figure threshold.
Bitcoin Options Expiry Overview
The current batch of Bitcoin options features a put/call ratio of 0.65, indicating that there are more long (call) contracts expiring than there are short (put) contracts being sold.
The open interest, representing the value or number of options contracts yet to expire, is highest at the $120,000 strike price, which holds approximately $1.48 billion in OI, as reported by Deribit. In addition, there is over $1 billion in OI for both the $100,000 and $110,000 strike prices, with market participants remaining notably bullish.
“We do not see the same level of exuberance in leveraged positions that characterized the initial two attempts above the crucial psychological six-figure threshold,” noted Deribit in its weekly analysis. The firm also remarked that futures trading has been advantageous for those betting on declines in Bitcoin (puts). Nonetheless, a greater number of traders are still leaning towards buying calls.
Alongside today’s Bitcoin options expiration, approximately 140,000 Ethereum contracts are also set to expire. These contracts carry a notional value of $455 million and have a put/call ratio of 0.47. This pushes the total notional value of Friday’s combined crypto options expiration to roughly $2.2 billion.
Ongoing Correction in the Crypto Market
The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies has dropped by an additional 4.4% in the day, bringing it down to $3.37 trillion at the moment. Market sentiments may have been shaken by the possibility of the US government liquidating billions of dollars of Bitcoin, although the asset remains within its typical trading range.
Bitcoin fell to an intraday low of $91,250 but regained some ground to reach the $93,000 mark during Friday’s trading session in Asia. However, it has experienced a further 2% reduction over the past 24 hours, representing a 9% decline since reaching over $100,000 on January 7.
The cryptocurrency is nearing the lower end of a sideways channel that began in mid-November, and it must maintain this level to avert a more significant downturn.
Bitcoin has dwindled to pretty much the very bottom of its $91000-$101165 range
Needs to hold the $91k Range Low as support (blue) to avoid further downside and actually deepening this multi-week corrective period$BTC #Crypto #Bitcoin https://t.co/Bn24aJuxtd pic.twitter.com/doIFyA6qYU
— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) January 9, 2025
This Friday morning, both Ethereum and various altcoins are trading lower as the market correction intensifies, fueled by concerns over U.S. inflation and fears of an impending selloff.
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