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Bitcoin and Ethereum options worth about $2.1 billion expire on Friday, April 3, 2026, but the event appears too small to drive a major move in crypto prices. Bitcoin remains near the max pain level, while Ethereum trades close to its own key expiry zone. At the same time, traders are watching broader risk sentiment as market pressure from global tensions keeps crypto prices range-bound.
Around 27,600 Bitcoin options contracts expire on April 3, 2026, with a notional value near $1.8 billion. Data from Deribit shows the put/call ratio stands near 0.54 to 0.55, which suggests more call options than put options are set to expire. The max pain level is around $68,000, close to Bitcoin’s recent trading range.
This setup usually reduces the chance of a sharp expiry-driven move because spot prices are already near the level where the largest number of option buyers lose their premiums. In addition, the event is smaller than the end-of-quarter expiry seen earlier, which means traders may not expect the same level of volatility.
Open interest across all exchanges has pulled back after the Q1 expiry event and now stands near $31 billion for Bitcoin options. Deribit data also shows large open interest remains at the $60,000 strike, where about $1.5 billion is positioned. That reflects continued caution in the market even as Bitcoin holds above that zone.
Alongside Bitcoin, around 157,000 Ethereum options contracts are also due to expire on Friday. These contracts carry a notional value of about $300 million to $322 million. The put/call ratio is about 0.73, while max pain is set near $2,075 to $2,100.
Ethereum has traded under pressure through the week. It slipped back toward $2,000 on Thursday before recovering slightly to around $2,050 during Friday morning, 3 April 2026, trading in Asia. Because the spot price is also close to the max pain zone, the expiry does not appear to point to an outsized reaction by itself.
With both Bitcoin and Ethereum near their respective expiry levels, this week’s event looks more like a routine settlement than a major turning point. Total crypto options open interest for Ethereum stands near $6.3 billion, which remains far below Bitcoin’s level but still shows active hedging and short-term positioning.
Crypto prices have mostly moved sideways this week. Total market capitalization stood near $2.37 trillion during Friday morning trading in Asia. Markets attempted a recovery, but risk appetite weakened after President Donald Trump signaled another two to three weeks of air strikes in Iran.
Bitcoin briefly moved above $67,000 late on Thursday, 2 April 2026, but it failed to hold that level and slipped back toward $66,600. That price action added to the view that macro pressure, not options expiry, remains the main driver of near-term moves.
CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost said, “The level of supply in profit and in loss is now reaching levels typical of a true bear market.” CryptoQuant data shows about 11.2 million Bitcoin remain in profit, while around 8.2 million are at a loss.
Furthermore, Glassnode data shows the current cycle drawdown from the October 2025 all-time high of $126,200 is about 52%, which is still below past bear market declines.
ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood also said Bitcoin is unlikely to see another drawdown of 85% or more from an all-time high. She said, “The 85-95% collapse associated with a very new technology — that’s done.” Her view is that Bitcoin now trades as a more established asset class.
