Bitcoin options meet reality before expiry.
By Maxime Laurent · 2025-12-25 20:01
Bitcoin options meet reality before expiry.
A $28.5B options expiry is approaching, and optimism is quietly leaking out of the room.
Ahead of the annual options expiration on Deribit, the mood has clearly shifted. Traders loaded up on upside dreams, but November had other plans.
Here’s the setup:
• Total contracts expiring: $28.5B
• Call options at risk: $21.7B
• Big bet: $BTC holding above $100,000
Reality check. Only 6% of open positions have strikes at $92,000 or below. Everything else? Too far from the current price to matter. A lot of calls were written for a future that simply didn’t show up.
There’s also a heavy concentration of strikes between $100K and $125K, which explains why price action feels heavy, almost capped. And then there’s the infamous max pain level sitting around $95,000 — the zone where option holders suffer the most, and where the market often loves to gravitate.
This is classic crypto psychology: conviction priced as certainty. Options don’t forgive narratives, only timing. Sometimes the market doesn’t go down — it just refuses to go where you need it to go. Dur à avaler. 😮💨
#Bitcoin #BTC #options #Deribit #crypto #marketpsychology #riskmanagement
A $28.5B options expiry is approaching, and optimism is quietly leaking out of the room.
Ahead of the annual options expiration on Deribit, the mood has clearly shifted. Traders loaded up on upside dreams, but November had other plans.
Here’s the setup:
• Total contracts expiring: $28.5B
• Call options at risk: $21.7B
• Big bet: $BTC holding above $100,000
Reality check. Only 6% of open positions have strikes at $92,000 or below. Everything else? Too far from the current price to matter. A lot of calls were written for a future that simply didn’t show up.
There’s also a heavy concentration of strikes between $100K and $125K, which explains why price action feels heavy, almost capped. And then there’s the infamous max pain level sitting around $95,000 — the zone where option holders suffer the most, and where the market often loves to gravitate.
This is classic crypto psychology: conviction priced as certainty. Options don’t forgive narratives, only timing. Sometimes the market doesn’t go down — it just refuses to go where you need it to go. Dur à avaler. 😮💨
#Bitcoin #BTC #options #Deribit #crypto #marketpsychology #riskmanagement
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and not financial advice.