Bitcoin and Ethereum Options Near $18.1 B Expiry on Sept. 25

Bitcoin and Ethereum options worth about $18.1 billion are approaching their quarterly expiry on Sept. 25. Data from Coinbase Markets and Deribit show a clear call‑heavy bias in both assets.

Put‑call ratios indicate call dominance

Coinbase reports a Bitcoin open‑interest put‑call ratio of 0.66 and a 24‑hour volume ratio of 0.37. Ethereum’s open‑interest ratio stands at 0.61 with a 24‑hour volume ratio of 0.55. Both ratios are below one, meaning calls exceed puts.

Strike concentration

Bitcoin call open interest clusters around the $90,000 and $100,000 strikes, while Ethereum call interest is concentrated between $3,000 and $4,000.

Notional values and market size

• Deribit snapshot (03:53 UTC, Sept. 23) shows $16.13 billion of Bitcoin inverse‑option open interest and $2.16 billion of Ether, totaling near $18.29 billion.
• Coinbase’s combined figure is $18.1 billion, up from $16.6 billion reported on Sept. 15.
• Bitcoin accounts for roughly 89 % of the total notional value.

Price context

Bitcoin traded near $86,500 on Wednesday, placing the $90,000 strike about 4 % above spot and the $100,000 strike about 16 % above. Ethereum traded around $2,760, making the $3,000 strike roughly 9 % higher and the $4,000 strike about 45 % higher.

Implications for expiry

The large open‑interest at these strikes does not obligate spot prices to reach them before settlement. Open interest reflects outstanding contracts, not the direction of individual positions, and many contracts are part of spreads or hedges. The contracts will settle at 08:00 UTC on Sept. 25 using Deribit’s index‑based delivery price.