Around 20,500 Bitcoin options contracts will expire on Friday, May 22, carrying a notional value of nearly $1.5 billion. The expiry arrives as crypto markets continue to weaken after losing nearly $50 billion this week. Data showed the event remained smaller than usual. As a result, analysts expect limited impact on spot prices. Bitcoin also failed to regain momentum after dropping below $78,000 earlier this week.
The put-to-call ratio for the contracts stood at 0.69, according to Coinglass. That figure indicated stronger bullish positioning, although downside protection demand remained elevated. Max pain level remained near $79,000, slightly above current spot levels.
Meanwhile, total Bitcoin options open interest climbed steadily throughout May. Data from Coinglass showed that overall open interest across exchanges reached $37.6 billion.
Open interest stayed highest at the $80,000 strike price on Deribit, where contracts totaled $1.65 billion. At the same time, traders maintained $1.2 billion in open interest at the $60,000 strike.
Crypto derivatives provider Greeks Live said traders used the recent rebound to build defensive positions into the final days of May. The firm stated that investors aimed to protect against pullbacks without preparing for a severe market collapse.
Greeks Live also noted that May and June have historically brought weaker trading conditions. Therefore, larger investors increased protection strategies while controlling costs through covered call strategies and structured positions.
At the same time, implied volatility continued to decline across major maturities. Bitcoin implied volatility dropped below 35% across key terms, while Ethereum volatility moved below 50%.
Alongside Bitcoin contracts, around 123,000 Ethereum options contracts also reached expiry on Friday. Those contracts carried a notional value of roughly $263 million.
Ethereum’s max pain level stood at $2,200, while the put-to-call ratio reached 1. That ratio reflected balanced positioning between bullish and bearish expectations.
Deribit reported that Ethereum positioning shifted from a strong call bias last week toward a nearly balanced structure. According to the exchange, traders now await fresh market catalysts before increasing exposure again.
Elsewhere, market volatility expectations continued cooling across the broader derivatives sector. Greeks Live reported that skew levels declined slightly as implied volatility kept falling.
Related derivatives data showed Deribit’s Bitcoin options open interest reached $31.3 billion on May 21. Traders also monitored a larger May 29 expiry carrying $6.25 billion in contracts and a max pain level near $75,000.
Crypto markets extended losses again on Friday, pushing total capitalization down to $2.67 trillion. Bitcoin dropped to an intraday low near $76,750 before recording a small recovery during morning trading.
The latest decline followed several days of weakness across digital assets. Positive developments across the sector failed to improve sentiment as investors remained cautious under broader macroeconomic pressure.
Ether and most altcoins traded flat during the past 24 hours. Trading activity also slowed after a largely bearish week across the sector.
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Earlier market activity reflected the same trend. Around 25,000 Bitcoin options contracts worth more than $2 billion expired on May 15, while traders closely watched short-term downside risks.
Greeks Live said structured trades continued driving derivatives activity while large investors built lower-cost protection strategies. The firm also stated that volatility expectations remained low as overall enthusiasm weakened further.
Bitcoin options expiry worth nearly $1.5 billion arrived as crypto markets remained under pressure and traders expanded defensive positions. Bitcoin volatility continued falling while Ethereum positioning cooled ahead of larger upcoming expiries. Participants now watch whether Bitcoin can hold key support levels as sentiment weakens further.