Bitcoin Faces $13.3B Monthly Options Expiry as BTC Trades Well Below Max Pain

Core Insights - Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a significant correction, dropping 35% to $81,000 before recovering to $87,000, leading to increased focus on the options market as positioning becomes more defensive [1] Options Market Overview - A total of 153,778 BTC options are set to expire, with 92,692 BTC in call open interest and 61,086 BTC in put open interest, representing a combined notional value of approximately $13.3 billion and a put-call ratio of 0.66, indicating that calls still outnumber puts but downside protection has increased [2] - The max pain price is at $102,000, which is 17% above the current spot price, showing the distance BTC has drifted from the level where option sellers would face the least total loss [3] - Currently, $3.4 billion of contracts are in the money, accounting for about 26% of total exposure, while $10 billion remains out of the money, roughly 74%, indicating that traders are heavily positioned for movements outside the current range [3] Market Sentiment and Positioning - Open interest is most concentrated at the $80,000 strike, which is the largest bearish cluster, while calls are stacked at higher strikes, particularly above $120,000, but these are far from being exercised due to the spot price being significantly lower [4] - Market sentiment remains fragile and deeply in fear, with large out-of-the-money positions dominating, suggesting that BTC could remain volatile as market makers adjust hedging flows around key strike levels [4]