Deribit sees $16B in Bitcoin options expire Friday

Nearly $16 billion worth of Bitcoin options are set to expire on Deribit this Friday, making it one of the exchange’s most consequential quarterly settlements of the year. The expiration, scheduled for 08:00 UTC on September 25, covers roughly $15.9 billion in BTC options alongside approximately $2.1 billion in Ether options.

That Bitcoin figure alone accounts for about 37% of Deribit’s total reported BTC open interest of roughly $43.5 billion.

The numbers behind the expiry

The options book heading into Friday leans decisively bullish. Call open interest sits between $9.4 billion and $9.6 billion, while puts range from $6.4 billion to $6.5 billion. That translates to a put-to-call open interest ratio of roughly 0.69 to 0.71, meaning for every put contract outstanding, there are roughly 1.4 calls.

Deribit CEO Luuk Strijers described the September expiry as “call-heavy” and one of the largest of the year.

Bitcoin is trading near the $85,500 to $86,300 range heading into the settlement. That’s significant because it means about one-third of the entire BTC expiry book is already in-the-money.

The max pain level sits at $75,000. That’s more than $10,000 below where Bitcoin is currently trading.

Why quarterly expiries move markets

This particular expiry coincides with the release of US durable goods orders data and CME futures settlement on the same day.

What the call-heavy positioning signals

A put-to-call ratio below 1.0 generally reflects optimism. At 0.69 to 0.71, this ratio signals that bullish conviction has been the dominant theme among options traders through the quarter.

What to watch after settlement

If Bitcoin stays comfortably above the $75,000 max pain level and holds the mid-$80,000 range, it would suggest genuine demand is supporting prices independent of options-related mechanics.

The Ether options expiry of roughly $2.1 billion adds a secondary source of volatility across crypto markets.

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