Bitcoin, Ether options worth $2.2B expire as BTC tops $72K

Bitcoin and Ether options worth about $2.2 billion come due Friday, April 10, as Bitcoin trades above $72,000. The batch includes roughly 26,700 Bitcoin options contracts with a notional value near $1.9 billion and about 151,500 Ether contracts valued around $332 million.

The weekly expiration spans major crypto options venues, with the largest share of open interest on Deribit. Positioning leans slightly bullish. For Bitcoin, the put/call ratio sits near 0.71. Max pain-the price where the most options would expire worthless-is around $69,000, below the current spot level. For Ether, the put/call ratio is roughly 0.77, with max pain close to $2,050.

Open interest in Bitcoin options is concentrated at higher strikes. On Deribit, the $80,000 strike holds the most value at about $1.6 billion, pointing to a build-up in upside exposure. Total Bitcoin options open interest across exchanges is roughly $34 billion. Ether options open interest stands near $6.6 billion.

Traders adjusted positions as prices steadied this week. In a market update, Deribit wrote, “A fragile truce to parry grotesque rhetoric rallied markets with a sense of relief,” highlighting demand for short-dated Bitcoin calls and call structures, while puts were sold or rolled to higher strikes.

Analytics firm Greeks Live noted: “Judging by key options indicators, the rebound above $70,000 has clearly boosted market sentiment, primarily by alleviating fears of a black swan-induced crash, rather than reflecting expectations of sustained price gains.”

Ether derivatives have shown early signs of recovery, according to CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost, with positioning improving as spot prices stabilized.

The expiry follows a gradual rise in digital asset prices since Monday, with roughly $90 billion added to total crypto market value. Market participants are watching whether post-expiry hedging and rollovers influence spot prices into the weekend.