Tension on the markets is reaching fever pitch. The last Friday in May brings with it the expiry of Bitcoin options worth tens of billions of dollars. Who will come out on top – the bulls or the bears?
Bitcoin options worth USD 10 billion are expiring. The decision will be made within hours
One of the most exciting moments of the month is currently unfolding on the Deribit exchange – the expiration of Bitcoin options contracts. Today is particularly special because options worth a total of nearly $10 billion are expiring. The battle between the bulls and bears is very even, and although yesterday it seemed that the bulls might celebrate, current price developments show that the reality will be a little more complicated.
The price of Bitcoin is hovering around $106,000, which means that the bulls are unlikely to reach the maximum possible profit of $4.8 billion, which would occur at a price above $110,000. Nevertheless, a solid win is on the cards – in the price range between $105,000 and $107,000, call options worth $3.3 billion expire against put options worth $650 million, giving the bulls an advantage of $2.65 billion.
What do the charts show and what can we expect next?
From a chart perspective, the so-called Max Pain Price is important, which lies at the USD 100,000 mark – the price at which the value of call and put options would equalize and neither side would win significantly. However, the largest number of open options still lies at the USD 110,000 level, where Bitcoin climbed last week. The current downward trend, however, plays into the hands of bears, who could claim a partial victory if the price falls below the current level.
But today is not the only day when options expire on Deribit. According to data from Laevitas.ch, options worth a total of $13.8 billion are expiring across the market today. And that’s not all — at the end of June, we can expect quarterly options worth more than $11.8 billion. In addition, some of today’s options will likely be moved to this date, which could have a significant impact on further price developments.
