How Will Markets React to $2.6B Crypto Options Expiring Today?

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How Will Markets React to $2.6B Crypto Options Expiring Today?

On Friday, March 6th, Bitcoin options contracts worth approximately $2.2 billion will expire. However, this amount is significantly lower than last week’s expirations, so it’s not expected to cause any major price changes in the immediate Bitcoin market.

As a researcher tracking the crypto market, I’ve observed a positive shift this week. We saw roughly $150 billion flow back into the total market value since Monday. However, the upward momentum seemed to be fading by the end of the week.

Bitcoin Options Expiry

Bitcoin options traders are currently betting more on price decreases than increases, with a put/call ratio of 1.7 this week. This means there are significantly more put options (bets on a price drop) than call options (bets on a price increase). According to Coinglass, the price level where most traders would experience losses (the ‘max pain’ point) is around $69,000, which is slightly lower than the current price. This suggests many options contracts will likely expire worthless.

On Deribit, the largest number of Bitcoin options contracts that haven’t expired yet are for the $60,000 price point, suggesting more traders are betting the price will go down. Overall, the total value of all Bitcoin options contracts across all exchanges has been increasing this month and is now at $41.7 billion.

Greeks Live, a company specializing in cryptocurrency derivatives, has noticed the market recovering. Bitcoin is currently staying above $70,000 and looks likely to attempt to reach $75,000.

As a researcher, I’ve been tracking options market activity, and it’s interesting to see a clear preference for selling call options over the last couple of days. While the price is still going up, the rate of increase seems to be slowing down.

March 6 Options Expiration Data

Over the past week, Bitcoin options worth $2.3 billion expired, with most traders positioned for a price decrease (indicated by a Put-Call Ratio of 1.69). The price level where most traders would have experienced losses was around $69,000. Similarly, Ethereum options totaling $380 million expired, with traders leaning slightly towards expecting price increases (Put-Call Ratio of 0.85), and a maximum pain point of $1,950.

— Greeks.live (@GreeksLive) March 5, 2026

Today, along with Bitcoin options expiring, roughly 184,000 Ethereum options contracts are also set to expire. These Ethereum contracts are worth about $380 million, with the price level where most contracts would cause losses (the ‘max pain’ point) at $1,950. There are 0.85 put options for every call option expiring. Overall, the total value of all outstanding Ethereum options across different exchanges is approximately $7.5 billion.

This brings the total notional value of crypto options expiries to around $2.6 billion.

Spot Market Outlook

Looking at the market today, the total market capitalization has dipped 1.2%, landing at $2.49 trillion. Despite this decrease, it’s still holding near the high end of the trading range we’ve seen over the past month. I’m watching to see if it can hold this level, or if we’ll see a break downwards.

Bitcoin reached $74,000 on Thursday – its highest price in about a month – but couldn’t sustain that level. As of now, it’s trading around $70,300. This recovery started after tensions rose in Iran last weekend.

Ether’s price paused at $2,200 and dropped 2% to $2,065 during Asian trading Friday morning. Other cryptocurrencies, or altcoins, remained relatively unchanged and haven’t followed the price trends of Bitcoin and Ether this week.

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2026-03-06 09:30