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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAnother Friday has rolled around, and this one is the last of the month, meaning a much bigger Bitcoin and Ethereum options expiry event.
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Around 149,000 Bitcoin options contracts will expire on Friday, July 31, with a notional value of roughly $9.57 billion. This expiry is much larger than usual events, being the end of the month, so it may induce spot market volatility.<\/p>\n
Crypto markets have retreated slightly this week, with around $25 billion leaving the space following the Fed\u2019s decision to leave rates unchanged and the resumption of military action between the US and Iran.<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s big batch of Bitcoin options contracts has a put\/call ratio of 0.28, meaning that there are way more (call) contracts expiring compared to short (put) contracts. Max pain is around $64,000, which is pretty close to current spot prices, so many will 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 $70,000 and $72,000 strike prices on Deribit, with $2.4 billion at each, but short sellers still have $1.3 billion in OI at $60,000. Total BTC options OI across all exchanges has risen over the past few weeks to $34.7 billion, according to Coinglass.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cOverall, macro and risk asset signals remain cautious. BTC continues to face short-term pressure, with market stabilization and renewed capital inflows being key signals to watch,\u201d said<\/a> Deribit this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis creates massive liquidity and volatility, making it one of the best days to trade short-dated options,\u201d the exchange added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
In addition to today\u2019s big batch of Bitcoin options, around 433,000 Ethereum contracts are expiring, with a notional value of $825 million, a max pain of $1,800, and a put\/call ratio of 0.59. Total ETH options OI across all exchanges is low at around $5.4 billion.<\/p>\n
This brings the total notional value of crypto options expirations to around $10.4 billion, a substantial event.<\/p>\n
Spot Market Outlook<\/h2>\n
Crypto markets ticked up a little on Friday morning, with total capitalization tapping $2.3 trillion again, but the week has been one of slow losses.<\/p>\n
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Bitcoin topped $65,000 in an intraday high early on Friday morning but was immediately rejected there and retreated to $64,325 at the time of writing.<\/p>\n
\nThe asset remains in consolidation, where it has been for the past two months. \u201cBTC is at its lowest weekly volatility in two years,\u201d observed<\/a> analyst \u2018Daan\u2019.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Ether prices have also squeezed into a very tight range over the past few days, hovering around $1,900.<\/p>\n
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