The options expiry event scheduled for Friday, July 26, is expected to involve around 61,200 Bitcoin options contracts with a notional value of approximately $4.26 billion. This particular expiry event is larger than usual due to it being the end of the month. Despite the launch of spot Ethereum ETFs in the United States for the first time, spot markets have experienced a loss in momentum this week.
The Bitcoin options expiring have a put/call ratio of 0.61, indicating that there are nearly twice as many long contracts expiring as shorts. Open interest at higher strike prices appears to favor the bulls, with $942 million at the $70,000 strike price and a significant $1.3 billion at the $100,000 strike price. Conversely, on the put side, there is around $500 million in open interest at the $60,000 strike price.
In addition to the Bitcoin contracts, there are approximately 500,000 Ethereum options contracts set to expire on the same day with a notional value of $1.76 billion. The put/call ratio for the Ethereum contract expiries is 0.46, indicating that there are more than twice as many long contracts expiring than short contracts. The largest amount of open interest is at the $4,000 strike price, totaling over $520 million.
The combined value of the two batches of crypto options, Bitcoin, and Ethereum, is approximately $6 billion, making it one of the largest expiry events of the year. Interestingly, despite the launch of Ethereum ETFs, there have been significant outflows. Ethereum ETFs experienced their second day of outflows totaling $152 million on July 25, attributed to a substantial Grayscale exodus of $346 million. Spot markets have also declined by roughly $120 billion this week, with Bitcoin retracing to $64,000 on July 25.
Bitcoin made a recovery from a low of $54,000 in early July but failed to break through resistance at $68,000 earlier in the week before falling back. However, it managed to reclaim $67,000 during the Friday morning Asian trading session. On the other hand, Ethereum has experienced even more significant challenges, falling 11% since the launch of spot ETFs and dropping to $3,100 on July 25 before recovering to $3,250 during Asian trading on Friday.
The upcoming options expiry event for Bitcoin and Ethereum is expected to have a significant impact on the cryptocurrency market. The numbers reveal a favorable situation for Bitcoin bulls, while Ethereum has faced challenges despite the launch of ETFs. The market dynamics and price movements in the days following the expiry event will be critical in determining the short-term direction of both cryptocurrencies.
