March 29 is the quarter-end Bitcoin options expiration event, and it's a big one. There are approximately 135,250 BTC options contracts expiring today.
The face value of a large batch of bitcoin derivatives today stands at $9.74 billion, making it the largest expiration event so far this year, according to Derebit.
Bitcoin options expiration
Today's jumbo tranche call/sell ratio is 0.85, which means that there are slightly more long contracts being sold than put contracts. There is more than $1 billion in open interest (OI) at strike prices of $65,000 and $70,000, with the latter being closer to current spot prices.
Bulls appear to be dominating the derivatives markets with nearly $1 billion in direct investment at much higher strike prices, including $75,000 and even $100,000.
OI refers to the number or value of contracts that are still open and not yet settled.
Cryptocurrency derivatives instrument provider, Grex Live, reported the total value of cryptocurrency options for today's expiration event.
With a massive quarterly delivery and $15 billion worth of cryptocurrency options awaiting, “market participants are ramping up their moves, with Bitcoin calls continuing to be the absolute backbone of the move,” the report said.
It is too male That $70,000 strike price is “highly contested,” with the call currently carrying the second-largest options contract. Deribit reports that it is slightly larger than the $65,000 strike price for the calls.
In addition to the huge batch of Bitcoin contracts, around 1.58 million Ethereum options contracts will also expire on March 29. It has a notional value of about $5.67 billion and a put/call ratio of 0.63, which means more calls than put contracts expiring today.
Strike prices at $4,000 and $3,000 have a lot of OI, with the former having the largest notional value, which is around $700 million.
Crypto market impact
Spot markets are not typically affected by derivative expirations, but today's event is a major event, so there may be some additional volatility.
Total capitalization rose 2% on the day, reaching $2.77 trillion during the Asian trading session on Friday morning.
Bitcoin has been hovering at just over $70,000 resistance for the better part of the past 24 hours, where it remains.
Ethereum prices have been trading around the $3,500 area, where they have been for the past 18 hours.
