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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAnother Friday is here again, and another batch of Bitcoin and Ethereum options contracts is expiring as spot markets retreat from their recent rally.\u00a0\u00a0\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Around 24,600 Bitcoin options contracts will expire on Friday, Mar. 20, with a notional value of roughly $1.7 billion. This event is smaller than last week\u2019s, which was also quite negligible, so it is unlikely to affect spot markets.<\/p>\n
Crypto prices have been in decline over the past few days following<\/a> the Federal Reserve\u2019s hawkish outlook for the rest of the year. Total capitalization has declined by $75 billion since Monday, and volatility and volumes have dwindled.<\/p>\n This week\u2019s batch of Bitcoin options contracts has a put\/call ratio of 0.96, meaning that the longs and the shorts are relatively evenly matched. Max pain is around $70,000, 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 $1.5 billion in bearish bets. Total BTC options OI across all exchanges has been climbing this month, reaching $44 billion.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the quarterly settlement week approaching, Bitcoin may enter a period of relatively low volatility unless major events occur,\u201d noted<\/a> crypto derivatives provider Greeks Live on Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In addition to today\u2019s batch of Bitcoin options, around 176,500 Ethereum contracts are also expiring, with a notional value of $377 million, max pain at $2,150, and a put\/call ratio of 1.0. Total ETH options OI across all exchanges is around $9 billion.<\/p>\n This brings the total notional value of crypto options expiries to around $2.1 billion.<\/p>\n Spot markets have ended the week in the red, declining a further 1.3% on the day, dropping total capitalization to $2.48 trillion.<\/p>\n Bitcoin has moved back to the middle of its sideways channel, dipping below $69,000 briefly on Thursday before recovering to trade at just over $70,000 during the Friday morning Asian session.<\/p>\n Ether prices have lost another 3% on the day, falling back to the $2,100 level, and are in danger of losing the psychological $2,000 zone again as momentum from this week\u2019s rally dissipates.<\/p>\n Altcoins are mostly in the red again with larger losses for Hyperliquid, Zcash, and Toncoin.<\/p>\n If these Bitcoin range breakouts keep failing, \u201cthen it will be hard for a prolonged relief bounce to happen,\u201d said<\/a> analyst \u2018Daan Crypto Trades.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAll we\u2019re seeing now is a sweep of shorts into further downside since this downtrend began.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\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>\nBitcoin Options Expiry<\/h2>\n
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Spot Market Outlook<\/h2>\n
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