Crypto Chaos: $2.2B Options Expire, Market Fans Go Wild 😅

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Hullo, dear readers. Tomorrow at 08:00 UTC, Deribit will settle contracts worth a dazzling $2.22 billion in crypto options. If you were hoping for a quiet morning, plot twist: this is the grown‑up version of a gossip-filled Friday night, except the gossip is all hedges and the tea is pure volatility.

This is a big weekly expiry, the kind that can nudge the markets into a little flutter as traders roll their positions and pretend they’re calm while their portfolios perform interpretive dance moves behind the scenes.

Deribit, darling of the options world, is sitting on roughly 85-90% of the global crypto options market. Yes, it pretty much runs the show while everyone else sips lattes and hopes for a breakout.

Bitcoin is the headliner, accounting for about $1.84 billion of the action. The data suggests a tense standoff between bulls and bears, like two people arguing over whose turn it is to pick a film on a long-haul flight.

The put/call ratio stands at 1.05, meaning there are slightly more puts than calls. In market gossip terms, that’s a touch of fear and hedging in the air-the kind of vibe you notice when Bitcoin can’t quite hold onto a bigger number.

And the max pain point sits at $90,000. That’s the price at which the greatest number of options-puts and calls-expire worthless. A little plot twist in favor of the “house,” if you believe in such things.

Deribit notes that open interest brackets the current price. There is a wall of puts preventing a drop below $85,000 and a wall of calls betting on a breakout above $90,000. It’s almost like a stage set, with actors nervously glancing at the audience.

Ethereum, meanwhile, behaves a little differently: its ratio is below 1.0, meaning there are more calls than puts. Traders seem keen on upside for ETH rather than buying insurance against a drop-quite the opposite of Bitcoin’s vibe.

Another failed breakout

As U.Today reports, Bitcoin couldn’t sustain its position above the psychological $90,000 level for the third time since November 2025. The New Year rally to around $94,500 was described as a “bull trap,” which sounds more like a bad dating analogy than trading strategy.

The chart remains boxed in a sideways range defined by resistance at $92,000 and support at $85,000, but the impending options expiry could spark a bit of fireworks-perhaps enough to make Bridget Jones reach for her notebook and a stiff drink. 🍸📈

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2026-01-08 19:41