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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAnother Friday has rolled around again, and that means more crypto options contracts are expiring as spot markets post rare gains.\u00a0\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Around 27,000 Bitcoin options contracts will expire on Friday, Mar. 13, with a notional value of roughly $1.9 billion. This event is smaller than usual, so it is unlikely to affect spot markets.<\/p>\n
Crypto prices have been flat for most of this week, picking up a little on Friday, with total capitalization gaining $150 billion since Monday, but volatility and volumes have dwindled.<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s batch of Bitcoin options contracts has a put\/call ratio of 0.97, meaning that the longs and the shorts are relatively evenly matched. Max pain is around $69,000, according to Coinglass, which is pretty close to current spot prices, so many could be in the money on expiry.<\/p>\n
Open interest (OI), or the value or number of Bitcoin options contracts yet to expire, remains highest at the $60,000 strike price on Deribit, with $1.7 billion in bearish bets. Total BTC options OI across all exchanges has been climbing this month, reaching $45.5 billion.<\/p>\n
Crypto derivatives provider Greeks Live observed the market rebound, noting that Bitcoin was firmly holding above the $70,000 psychological threshold and is \u201cnow poised to challenge $75,000.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond March, the flat forward implied volatility curve implies no significant term structure premium, suggesting balanced risk pricing for longer-dated options amid stable crypto sentiment, noted<\/a> Greeks Live this week.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udea8 Options Expiry Alert | 08:00 UTC Friday \u2014 Deribit (@DeribitOfficial) March 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In addition to today\u2019s batch of Bitcoin options, around 185,000 Ethereum contracts are also expiring, with a notional value of $382 million, max pain at $2,000, and a put\/call ratio of 1.2. Total ETH options OI across all exchanges is around $7.9 billion.<\/p>\n This brings the total notional value of crypto options expiries to around $2.3 billion.<\/p>\n Spot markets have ticked up on Friday morning in Asia, with total capitalization reaching $2.5 trillion again, its highest level for a week.<\/p>\n Bitcoin came just short of $72,000 in early trading but again found resistance there and started to retreat at the time of writing.<\/p>\n Ether prices were faring better with a 4% gain, sending them just above $2,100.<\/p>\n The altcoins were also mostly in the green today with larger moves for Solana, Hyperliquid, Avalanche, and Sui. Meanwhile, Pi Network, PI, skyrocketed<\/a> 33% on the day to $0.29 following a listing on Kraken.<\/p>\n LIMITED OFFER for CryptoPotato readers at Bybit: Use this link<\/a> to register and open a $500 FREE position on any coin!<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n\n
~$2.27B in crypto options are set to expire on Deribit.$BTC<\/a>: 26,889 contracts | $1.89B notional | P\/C: 0.97
OI stacked at $55K-$60K puts vs $75K-$80K calls, spot at $70.2K sitting right in no man\u2019s land.
Max Pain: $69K$ETH<\/a>: 185,268\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/H9zji7lzbW<\/a><\/p>\nYou may also like:<\/h3>\n
Spot Market Outlook<\/h2>\n
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