A development that could bring upward volatility to the assets market, both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) have $15 billion worth of options that are set to expire on Friday, March 29th. Indeed, options exchange Deribit is set to sell Bitcoin options worth $9.5 billion. Alternatively, they will also settle Ether options worth $5.7 billion.
The expiry of BTC and ETH options that take place quarterly could be set to infuse the market with bullish price movement, according to experts. Moreover, those options are officially set to expire at 08:00 UTC.
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$15 Billion in BTC & ETH Options to Expire
The digital asset market has been one of the most interesting in the financial sector thus far in 2024. Bitcoin has seen its price skyrocket amid the approval of Spot ETFs in January. Ultimately, the asset reached an all-time high of $73,000 this month.
On the other hand, Ethereum has been front and center as the next likely asset to receive Spot ETF approval in the United States. However, it is also the subject of a reported legal campaign by the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) as it seeks to dispute the asset security status.
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Those developments further solidify the two assets as leaders in the sector. Now, they will be facing another interesting reality, as both Bitcoin and Ethereum have $15 billion in options expiring today.
Specifically, the leading cryptocurrency options exchange on the planet, Deribit, notes the quarterly settlement of options contracts. For Bitcoin, it will see $9.5 billion expire. That figure is also 62% of total open interest. The rest is constituted by Ethereum, which will see $5.7 billion worth of options contracts expire.
Speaking to Coindesk, Luuk Strijers, chief commercial officer of Deribit, discussed the options. specifically, he noted that most of the options will expire in the money. Subseuqnlety, there could be renewed upward pressure that is distributed into the market.