4 days ago
Bitcoin is trading beneath a cardinal outgo threshold that short-term holders paid to get it — a motion that galore caller buyers are sitting connected losses heading into 1 of the largest options expiry events of the month.
Bitcoin: Bears Hold The Edge Going Into Expiry
Glassnode information shows Bitcoin is presently priced nether the Short-Term Holder Cost Basis of $78,900, and besides beneath the True Market Mean of $78,000.
Support is seen further down, successful the $65,000–$70,000 range. That backdrop sets a cautious code arsenic astir 23,000 Bitcoin options contracts — worthy $1.74 cardinal — are acceptable to expire contiguous connected derivatives speech Deribit.
The put-call ratio for those contracts sits astatine 1.10, meaning much traders are betting connected terms declines than connected gains.
Bitcoin’s max symptom terms — the level wherever the top fig of options expire worthless — is $76,000, somewhat beneath wherever it was trading astatine property clip astir $77,200.
Deribit has flagged the colony arsenic 1 to ticker closely, with information showing a 95% probability that Bitcoin options expire supra that $76,000 mark. Heavy measurement is concentrated astatine the $75,500 and $77,000 onslaught prices.
🚨 May 1st Options Expiry Alert.
At 08:00 UTC today, ~$2.14B successful crypto options are acceptable to expire connected Deribit.$BTC: ~$1.74B notional | Put/Call: 1.10 | Max Pain: $76,000$ETH: ~$394M notional | Put/Call: 0.95 | Max Pain: $2,325
BTC spot pinned close astatine max pain. ETH trading… pic.twitter.com/UC2GkTnBMb
— Deribit (@DeribitOfficial) May 1, 2026
In the past 24 hours, the put-call ratio for Bitcoin trading enactment climbed to 0.73, portion wide measurement dropped. The Federal Reserve’s determination to clasp involvement rates unchanged contributed to the slowdown.
Ethereum Sits Below Its Own Pain Point
Ethereum is facing akin pressure. More than 175,000 ETH options worthy $400 cardinal are expiring connected Deribit today, with a put-call ratio of 0.95. In the past 24 hours alone, enactment measurement roseate sharply past telephone volume, pushing that ratio to 1.17 — a motion traders are adjusting for imaginable downside.
What makes Ethereum’s concern somewhat antithetic is wherever it’s trading comparative to max pain. The ETH max symptom terms is $2,325, but the token was changing hands astir $2,284 astatine the clip of penning — already beneath that level. Its 24-hour scope ran from $2,232 to $2,293. Trading measurement fell 45% implicit the past day.
Broader Pressures Weigh On Crypto Markets
The options expiry is not happening successful a vacuum. US PCE ostentation came successful astatine a three-year precocious of 3.5%, rattling broader markets and prompting profit-taking crossed crypto.
Oil prices roseate to $106 a tube arsenic the US maintained a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Reports bespeak US President Donald Trump has rejected Iran’s connection to extremity the standoff, with reports of a imaginable escalation adding to marketplace unease.
Together, those factors person kept buyers cautious. Crypto markets saw wide selling aft the ostentation information dropped, and uncertainty astir the geopolitical concern has not eased.
Whether today’s options expiry adds to that unit — oregon passes without incidental — whitethorn beryllium connected whether Bitcoin tin clasp supra the $76,000 people erstwhile contracts settle.
Featured representation from Gemini, illustration from TradingView
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