More than $2.5 billion in bitcoin and ethereum options expire on Valentine’s Day

Options contracts for bitcoin and ethereum worth over 2.5 billion dollars are set to expire this Friday. Moreover, the markets are still burdened by U.S. economic data this week, including CPI and PPI, but could today’s expiration date of derivatives push prices higher over the weekend?

Bitcoin remains significantly below the psychological level of 100,000 dollars as the impact of macroeconomic events continues to influence sentiment.

Approximately 21,362 bitcoin options contracts are expiring on Valentine’s Day, February 14. The notional value of the tranche of expiring bitcoin options contracts this Friday is $2.07 billion, according to data from Deribit. The put/call ratio is 0.66, indicating a dominance of call options over put options.

As bitcoin options expire, they have a maximum pain or strike price of $98,000, at which point the asset will cause financial losses for the majority of holders.

Similarly, the crypto markets will witness the expiration of 176,742 ethereum contracts, with a notional value of $479.01 million. The put-to-call ratio for expiring ethereum options is 0.64, with a strike price of $2,725.

This week’s options expiration event is much smaller than what the crypto markets experienced last Friday. At that time, crypto options worth approximately 3.12 billion dollars expired, attributed to tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, which pushed the price of bitcoin below $100,000.

The expiration of options could lead to price volatility, so traders and investors must closely monitor today’s movements. Nevertheless, the put-to-call ratios below 1 for bitcoin and ethereum in options trading indicate optimism in the market. This suggests that more traders are betting on price increases.

Market sentiment has maintained weak consolidation this week. Implied volatility has fallen to its lowest level in nearly a year despite numerous positive news from the U.S. government. This signals less expected price changes that could affect options prices and trading strategies.

In this context, analysts point out that institutions consider February a ‘bad period.’ This means that a period of low market activity or interest could impact trading volumes and prices in the crypto market.