Around 25,000 Bitcoin options contracts are set to expire on Friday, May 15, with a notional value of roughly $2 billion. Given the relatively modest size of this expiry, it is unlikely to have a major impact on spot markets.
Crypto prices dipped mid-week in reaction to the U.S. inflation report but began to recover on Friday. Since Monday, the market has seen about $25 billion exit from total capitalization, though trading activity has started to stabilize.
Bitcoin Options Expiry
This week’s Bitcoin options expiries show a put/call ratio of 0.55, indicating almost twice as many long sellers as short sellers. Coinglass lists the “max pain” price near $80,000, slightly below current spot levels, which means some positions could expire out of the money.
Open interest (OI) remains concentrated at the $80,000 strike on Deribit, where $1.68 billion of notional exposure is recorded. Bears still have substantial exposure as well, with about $1.2 billion in OI at the $60,000 strike. Across all exchanges, total Bitcoin options open interest has been climbing this month and sits near $38 billion, according to Coinglass.
“Compared to last week, expiry size has grown materially while put/call ratios moved even lower, showing traders continue rotating toward upside exposure,” said Deribit.
🚨 Options Expiry Alert.
At 08:00 UTC tomorrow, over $2.63B in crypto options are set to expire on Deribit.bitcoin:native : $2.01B notional | Put/Call: 0.55 | Max Pain: $80,000
ethereum:native : $625M notional | Put/Call: 0.39 | Max Pain: $2,300Compared to last week, expiry… pic.twitter.com/r0cJwp1eRy
— Deribit (@DeribitOfficial) May 14, 2026
Alongside Bitcoin expiries, roughly 274,500 Ethereum contracts will expire with a combined notional value of about $625 million. The reported max pain for Ethereum is near $2,300, and the put/call ratio is approximately 0.39. Total Ethereum options open interest across exchanges is around $7.3 billion.
Spot Market Outlook
Overall crypto market capitalization rose about 1.7% on the day to approximately $2.77 trillion. Markets may experience additional volatility after the U.S. Senate Banking Committee advanced the CLARITY Act in a 15-9 bipartisan vote on Thursday. Over the past six weeks, the broader market has seen steady gains, climbing roughly 16%.
Bitcoin recovered from a Thursday drop below $80,000 but failed to break resistance at $82,000, slipping back below $81,000 during Friday’s Asian trading session. That resistance level remains a key hurdle for further upside in the near term.
Ether has shown less recovery, unable to climb past $2,300 and trading near $2,265 at the time of writing. Several altcoins have performed better on the day, with positive moves from XRP, Hyperliquid, Zcash, and Canton contributing to a slightly firmer market mood.