Approximately $2.1 billion worth of cryptocurrency options are set to expire on Friday, April 3, 2026, in what is considered a relatively small weekly expiry event. The bulk of this expiry consists of 27,600 Bitcoin (BTC) options contracts with a notional value of roughly $1.8 billion. Alongside, around 157,000 Ethereum (ETH) contracts, valued at $322 million, are also expiring.
Data from Deribit indicates the Bitcoin options batch has a put/call ratio of 0.54, suggesting there are significantly more long positions (calls) than short positions (puts) expiring. The max pain price—where the maximum number of options would expire worthless—is around $68,000, which is close to Bitcoin's spot price at the time of reporting. For Ethereum, the put/call ratio is higher at 0.73, with a max pain point near $2,100.
Despite the expiry, analysts suggest the event is unlikely to cause major volatility in spot markets due to its smaller size compared to previous quarters. Greeks.live analyst Adam noted this is the first weekly expiry after the larger Q1 expiry and that Bitcoin options now command over 80% market share. Open interest remains concentrated at the $60,000 strike price for BTC, with $1.5 billion in bearish bets, while total BTC options open interest across exchanges stands at $31 billion.
The market backdrop remains fragile. Total crypto market capitalization was flat at $2.37 trillion during Asian trading on Friday. Prices have been mostly sideways, with Bitcoin briefly touching $67,000 before falling back to around $66,600. Ethereum weakened to near $2,000. Analysts point to geopolitical tensions, specifically U.S. President Trump signaling another 2-3 weeks of airstrikes in Iran, as a factor rattling investor sentiment and triggering sell-offs.
CryptoQuant analyst 'Darkfost' observed that the level of supply in profit and loss is reaching levels typical of a bear market. While some, like analyst 'Daan Crypto Trades', note that Bitcoin has held above its previous $60,000 low during the conflict, the overall sentiment remains cautious. Deribit data also showed that Bitcoin put options are more expensive than Ethereum's across timeframes, indicating greater trader concern about BTC's downside risk.
