Bitcoin, Ethereum Slip Below Max Pain Price Ahead of $4B Options Expiry

Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) prices have tumbled to mid-May levels, erasing all gains because of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Traders brace for $4 billion in Bitcoin and Ethereum options expiry on Friday as recent macro events and options expiry put more selling pressure amid high uncertainty and volatility in the crypto market.

Notably, 32K BTC options with a notional value of more than $3.3 billion are set to expire on Friday on Deribit. At the time of writing, the put-call ratio was 1.10, suggesting a bearish sentiment among traders. Also, the max pain point is at $106,000, which is higher than the current Bitcoin price. This signals either an exit by traders or liquidation.

Bitcoin Options Open Interest. Source: Deribit

Also, the put-call ratio was 1.13 in the last 24 hours, indicating traders are buying more puts than calls. This signals a rise in bearish sentiment.

Bitcoin price fell nearly 0.5% in the past 24 hours, with the price changing hands at $104,806 at the time of writing. The 24-hour low and high were $103,602 and $105,329, respectively.

Ethereum Options Open Interest. Source: Deribit

Over 2182K ETH options with a notional value of $0.6 billion will expire. The put-call ratio was 0.69 and the max pain point was $2,600. Over the last 24 hours, the call volume was higher than puts despite a rising put-call ratio of 0.74 at the time of writing.

According to Deribit , BTC is showing more balanced positioning near max pain price and ETH flows have tilted slightly bullish as calls dominate puts volume in the last 24 hours.

ETH price tumbled over 0.5%, with the price trading at $2,524 at the time of writing. It indicates selling pressure rising on Ethereum as the price slipped below the max pain price. Furthermore, ETH technical indicators signal a recovery in the coming days.

Moreover, total BTC and ETH futures open interest have also witnessed low volumes in the last 24 hours. As per CoinGlass data , BTC futures OI was at $69.83 billion and ETH futures OI was at $35.03 billion.