How will markets react to $4.3 billion crypto options expiring today?

It’s the end of another week, which means another round of Bitcoin and crypto options contracts are expiring, while spot markets remain sideways.

Approximately 39,000 Bitcoin options contracts expire on Friday, December 12 and have a notional value of approximately $3.6 billion.

This expiration event is much the same as last week, and did not impact the spot markets. The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter of a percent this week, a move that was largely priced in by the markets, hence the lack of response.

Bitcoin options expire

This week’s batch of Bitcoin options contracts has a put/call ratio of 1.1, meaning the shorts are slightly larger than the longs. According to Coinglass, the maximum pain is around $90,000.

Open interest (OI), or the value or number of Bitcoin options contracts yet to expire, is highest at $100,000, which at this strike price on Deribit amounts to $2.7 billion. That leaves about $2 billion in OI from the $80,000 and $85,000 that short sellers are targeting.

According to Coinglass, the total OI of BTC options across all exchanges is $54.6 billion. Bitcoin’s positioning is tightly centered around the $90,000 level, Deribit reported.

“Call and put rates are near balance, indicating traders expect limited expiration following the recent range-bound tape. The clustering around 90K reflects a market waiting for the next catalyst rather than leaning on directional beliefs.”

🚨 Options Expiry Warning.

More than $4.3 billion worth of BTC and ETH options expire tomorrow at 8:00 UTC on Deribit.$BTC: Set call: 1.09 | Maximum pain: $90,000
BTC’s positioning is tightly centered around the 90K level. Call and put rates are close to balance, indicating that traders have limited… pic.twitter.com/OblyzyUfIN

— Deribit (@DeribitOfficial) December 11, 2025

Crypto derivatives provider Greeks Live showed caution after this week’s interest rate cut. “Calling this a restart of QE or the start of a new bull market is premature,” they say declared.

You might also like:

“With Christmas and the year-end reckoning approaching, this period historically marks the weakest liquidity conditions in crypto. Market activity is generally subdued, limiting near-term momentum for a sustained rally.”

In addition to the current crop of Bitcoin options, there are also approximately 247,000 Ethereum contracts expiring, with a notional value of $768 million, a max pain of $3,100, and a put/call ratio of 1.24. The total ETH options OI across all exchanges is approximately $12 billion.

“The positioning has shifted to a more neutral distribution, but the concentration suggests that traders remain willing to price in larger ETH moves as volatility picks up again,” Deribit said.

This brings the combined notional value of Friday’s crypto options expiration to approximately $4.3 billion.

Spot Market Outlook

Markets have been largely flat, with total capitalization rising slightly in recent hours to $3.2 trillion.

Bitcoin reached the $93,000 mark again but once again encountered resistance, falling back to the $92,000 level in early trading in Asia on Friday.

Ether prices have been trading within a tight range around the $3,200 level over the past day. Meanwhile, altcoins were largely sideways, with small gains for Solana, Bitcoin Cash and privacy coins Monero and Zcash.