Bitcoin and Ethereum options contracts with a combined notional value of $1.97 billion are set to expire today, a closely watched event for short-term price direction.
Bitcoin and Ethereum options contracts with a combined notional value of $1.97 billion are set to expire today, March 20, 2026, in a quarterly expiry event closely watched by traders for its potential to influence short-term price direction across the crypto market.
$1.97 Billion in BTC and ETH Options: What Is Expiring Today
The expiry covers both Bitcoin and Ethereum options contracts, with the bulk of activity concentrated on Deribit, the dominant exchange for crypto options trading. Deribit consistently handles the vast majority of crypto options volume, making it the primary venue where today’s settlement plays out.
Settlement on Deribit follows its standard schedule of 08:00 UTC. Today’s event falls on a quarterly expiry date, which typically draws more attention than weekly or monthly settlements due to the larger concentration of open interest that accumulates over a three-month cycle.
Quarterly expiries tend to produce higher notional values because institutional traders and market makers structure positions around these dates. The $1.97 billion figure represents the total notional value across all expiring BTC and ETH contracts, as reported by PANews.
The scale of today’s event reflects growing institutional participation in crypto derivatives. A recent example of this leveraged positioning includes a BTC whale who opened a $183 million long position with multiple price targets, illustrating the kind of large directional bets that cluster around major expiry dates.
Max Pain Levels Point to Potential Price Pressure Near Expiry
Options expiry events are significant because of the “max pain” theory, which holds that spot prices tend to gravitate toward the strike price where the largest number of options contracts expire worthless. This creates a financial incentive for market makers to push prices toward that level in the hours surrounding settlement.
For traders tracking Bitcoin’s price action, the key question is whether BTC spot is trading above or below the max pain level for this particular expiry. When spot price sits far from max pain, the gravitational pull toward that level can produce notable short-term volatility. When it sits close, the expiry often passes with minimal disruption.
The put/call ratio for any given expiry also provides a read on market sentiment. A ratio above 1.0 suggests more bearish positioning through protective puts, while a ratio below 1.0 indicates bullish bias through call-heavy positioning. Traders can track these figures in real time on Deribit and data aggregators such as Coinglass as settlement approaches.
Open interest distribution across key strike prices tends to cluster around round numbers, creating zones of support and resistance that options market makers actively defend. For both BTC and ETH, these strike-heavy zones can amplify or dampen price swings depending on whether spot trades inside or outside the cluster.
How Today’s Expiry Fits Into the 2026 Options Calendar
At $1.97 billion, today’s quarterly expiry is substantial but sits well below the record-setting events that have marked recent crypto market cycles. In late 2025, Bitcoin and Ethereum options worth several billion dollars expired as the year came to a close, reflecting the outsized open interest that builds around year-end quarterly dates.
Quarterly expiries at the end of December and March consistently rank among the largest of the year. The December 2025 event saw notional values climb significantly higher than today’s figure, driven by year-end portfolio rebalancing and tax-related positioning.
The next major date on the Deribit options calendar is the June 2026 quarterly expiry, which will likely attract even larger open interest as it serves as a mid-year benchmark for institutional positioning. Weekly expiries between now and June will continue, but typically at much lower notional values than today’s quarterly settlement.
Options open interest across crypto markets has been growing steadily through early 2026, a trend consistent with broader institutional adoption of derivatives products. Broader macro concerns have also pushed capital into digital assets; stablecoin supply on Solana recently hit an all-time high amid macroeconomic uncertainty, and the derivatives market has expanded alongside spot activity.
Meanwhile, conditions across the DeFi landscape continue to shift. Solana DApp revenue recently fell to an 18-month low, a reminder that derivatives growth does not always track with on-chain application usage.
Today’s $1.97 billion expiry is one of the larger quarterly settlements so far in 2026. Traders and investors tracking Bitcoin and Ethereum should mark the end-of-June quarterly expiry as the next major options event, with open interest likely to build progressively over the coming months.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making decisions.
