About $ 5 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) Option contracts are set to expire on dismissal this Friday at. 08:00 UTC, which adds an already fleeting crypto market.
Bitcoin’s long -term consolidation had held the Deribit’s Volatility Index (DVOL) in a downward trend in 2025. However, after Bitcoin’s sharp decline, dvol spiked to 52 before retiring under 50 – called a temporary cut in market uncertainty.
The recent price drop below $ 90,000 has left a majority of opportunities out of money (OTM) and dealers facing significant unrealized losses.
An option gives the proprietor the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset at a particular price within a specified period.
According to derived data, the $ 5 billion is due to the nominal value of expiry, $ 3.9 billion (78%) of it expires the out-the-money (OTM), which means these contracts expire worthless.
Almost 100% of calls are OTM, which is bullish bets as the Bitcoin price dropped significantly over the past few days, leaving investors with a significant amount of unrealized losses.
While the remaining $ 1.1 billion (22%) was in the money (ITM) where it was dominated with puts. ITM sets are investors who have their strike prices over the spot price, which means they have value.
However, Max Pain is $ 98,000, ie $ 10,000 higher than the current spot price. Max Pain is the price by which sellers, typically institutions, typically achieve maximum profits, while buyers experience the largest amount of losses.
Since the maximum pain price is so much higher than the spot price, this can stimulate options that sellers to push the Bitcoin price higher closer to the pain level, according to Powertrade.
“With the end of the month approaching, the merchants Bitcoin options should be aware. Max. Pain for February 28 is at $ 98,000, with a massive nominal value of $ 5 billion. This means the highest open interest is Overall here, which incentives market manufacturers to keep Bitcoin close to this price.
Let’s see if the so-called Max Pain theory is voting.
