The cryptocurrency market faced a weekly Bitcoin and Ethereum options expiry on July 10, 2026, with approximately 23,400 Bitcoin contracts set to expire. The notional value of these Bitcoin options stood at roughly $1.4 billion, while an additional 141,000 Ethereum contracts added another $237 million, bringing the combined total to around $1.6 billion — a relatively small event compared to typical end-of-month expiries. The put/call ratio for Bitcoin came in at 0.97, indicating a near balance between bearish and bullish positions, while Ethereum’s put/call ratio was 1.2, showing a slight bias toward puts.
The maximum pain point for Bitcoin was $62,000, a level below the current spot price, meaning many call holders were out of the money at expiry. For Ether, max pain was $1,700. Despite the expiry, analysts see limited potential for major spot market disruption due to the modest size. Total open interest in Bitcoin options across all exchanges ticked up slightly to $28.7 billion, with Deribit still holding the lion’s share. The options skew, according to derivatives provider Greeks Live, reflected a “more normalized term structure” but maintained a downside bias, signaling ongoing wariness about further Bitcoin declines.
Crypto markets saw modest gains on Friday morning, with total market capitalization reaching $2.25 trillion. Bitcoin rose over 2% to an intraday high of $64,000 during Asian trading, facing strong resistance near $64,500. Ether edged higher but remained below $1,800. The broader market had earlier in the week been rattled by an escalation of military action in Iran and the Federal Reserve’s meeting, which together erased about $30 billion from the space. Against that backdrop, traders are closely monitoring how the options expiry might reinforce or weaken current price levels, especially around the max pain point that often acts as a magnet. Institutional interest in Bitcoin remains robust, and any shift in sentiment following the expiry could set the stage for the next short-term move.
