Bitcoin Options Worth $15.6 B Expire Friday, Highlighting $70k and $76k Levels

Deribit’s latest data shows roughly 182,000 BTC in open Bitcoin options set to expire early Friday, Sept. 25. At current prices the contracts represent about $15.6 billion in notional value, split between 106,200 calls and 75,900 puts.

Market bias and max‑pain level

The put‑to‑call ratio of 0.71 indicates a clear call‑heavy bias, suggesting traders expect further price gains. Deribit’s dashboard lists the max‑pain price – the level where the greatest number of contracts would expire worthless – at $76,000, roughly $9,000 below Bitcoin’s price near $85,000 at the time of writing.

Key strike concentrations

The most active strike is $70,000, where the largest call position (8,705 BTC) and the largest put position (7,653 BTC) sit side by side, creating hedging pressure from both directions. Other notable concentrations include:

• Calls at $90,000 (7,222 BTC) and $100,000 (6,950 BTC)
• Puts at $60,000 (5,571 BTC) and $75,000 (4,257 BTC)

Implications for price movement

Option sellers typically hedge their exposure by buying or selling Bitcoin as the market moves. When the contracts settle at 08:00 UTC, that hedging flow will largely disappear, potentially reducing short‑term price support. The subsequent release of U.S. durable goods orders, University of Michigan sentiment data, and CME Bitcoin futures settlement later in the day adds additional macro pressure.

Historical context

September has historically been a challenging month for Bitcoin, with the asset closing lower in eight of the past 13 years – a pattern Decrypt has labeled “Red September.” This expiry cycle, however, occurs with Bitcoin trading above $84,000, suggesting a bullish tilt this year.