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There is roughly $16.6 billion worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum options sitting on Deribit’s books, all scheduled to expire on September 25, 2026. Bitcoin options account for the bulk of that figure at approximately $14.63 billion, with Ethereum options adding another $1.93 billion.
The call-heavy tilt that defines this expiry
Options come in two flavors: calls, which profit when prices rise, and puts, which profit when prices fall. For Bitcoin, the put/call open interest ratio sits at 0.52. For Ethereum, it is 0.57. Both numbers below 1.0 mean there are roughly twice as many call contracts outstanding as put contracts.
With Bitcoin trading near $78,000 as of September 14, the concentration of call positions at higher strike prices suggests many traders are positioned for a move beyond current levels before the September 25 settlement. The estimated max-pain level for the expiry sits between $72,000 and $75,000, meaning the price at which the largest number of open contracts expire worthless is meaningfully below the current spot price.
Why max pain matters and why traders ignore it anyway
Max pain is a concept borrowed from traditional options markets. The theory holds that, heading into expiry, prices tend to gravitate toward the level where options sellers face the smallest total payout. For this September 25 expiry, that level is in the $72,000 to $75,000 range for Bitcoin, while the current spot price near $78,000 sits above that zone.
Deribit’s dominance and what that concentration means
Deribit processes the overwhelming majority of Bitcoin and Ethereum options volume globally. As September 25 approaches, the hedging activity of large market makers on Deribit will have an outsized effect on spot prices. When call options move into the money and market makers need to delta-hedge their books, they buy the underlying asset, which can amplify upward price moves. When puts move into the money, the hedging flows go the other way.
Ethereum’s $1.93 billion slice of that total carries a put/call ratio of 0.57, mirroring the bullish bias seen in Bitcoin.
For traders watching the September 25 date, the key variables to track are any shift in the put/call ratio in the days ahead, movement in implied volatility as the expiry approaches, and whether Bitcoin holds above the $75,000 max pain zone. A sustained break below that level would flip the hedging math for a market that has positioned itself with calls dominant at a 0.52 to 0.57 put/call ratio.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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