Friday’s Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) options expiry will be one of the biggest quarterly expiry seen in recent times. Around 103,000 Bitcoin contracts with a notional value of $2.1 billion and almost 1.1 million Ethereum contracts with a notional value of 1.2 billion set to expire on June 24. In total, 3.3 billion in options open interest will expire.
Bitcoin and Ethereum Prices Could Break Record Low Levels
The max pain price for Bitcoin is $20,500, with most traders making bullish calls for prices above $60,000. Max pain is the price at which the largest number of options holders face financial loss. The BTC Put to Call ratio is 0.57, with calls of 66013 and puts of 37495. Currently, the BTC price is trading near the $20,500 level.
Moreover, the Deribit Implied Volatility Index for BTC indicates that volatility has jumped to 114% after the crypto market crash on June 13. Before the crash, the volatility was below 60%.
The Bitcoin (BTC) has been finding resistance at the $21,500 level and has failed every time it tries to break above the descending channel. Currently, the trend is sideways, with the Bitcoin price continuously diving below $20k.
If Bitcoin fails to breakout, then the bearish pressure will become strong due to expiry, which could push prices below the $17k level. In fact, the bearish sentiment is strong due to regulatory pressure and miners’ selloffs. Traders can expect higher volatility before and on the expiry day.
