How Will Markets React to $2B Bitcoin Options Expiring Today?

Another Friday has begun, which means another bunch of crypto options are expiring while the underlying markets retreat from New Year’s highs.

About 20,600 Bitcoin options contracts will expire on Friday, Jan. 9, with an estimated value of $1.9 billion.

This expiration event is almost the same as last week, as derivatives trading remains slow, so it is unlikely to have an impact on existing markets.

Spot markets started the week higher, and momentum built at a seven-week market high of $3.3 on Wednesday, but failed to sustain, leading to another pullback.

Bitcoin Options Expiration

This week’s small batch of Bitcoin options contracts has a put/call ratio of 1, meaning calls (longs) and puts (shorts) are evenly matched. The maximum pain point is $90,000, according to Coinglass, which is very close to current prices, and most will be in the money at expiration.

Open interest (OI), or the amount or number of Bitcoin options contracts yet to expire, remains at a record high of $100,000, with $1.8 billion at the strike price on Deribit. About $1.2 billion remains in OI at $75,000, $80,000, and $85,000 as beach bets increase.

OI’s total BTC options across all exchanges are back at $32.7 billion.

“BTC options traders are kicking 2026 leaning bullish. The January $100,000 call option is the most popular bet, with an assumed open interest of $1.45 billion,” Deribit noted earlier this week.

🚨 Out of Options Warning 🚨

At 08:00 UTC tomorrow, $2.22B worth of crypto options will expire on Deribit.$BTC: $1.84B mental | Enter Phone: 1.05 | Big pain: $90K

BTC is opening an open interest bracket, with heavy puts below $85K and calls forming from $90K to $100K, creating the risk of a pin… pic.twitter.com/9H3GFgtbiC

– Deribit (@DeribitOfficial) January 8, 2026

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In addition to today’s batch of Bitcoin options, about 123,000 Ethereum contracts are also expiring, with a symbolic value of $384 million, maximum pain at $3,100, and a put/call ratio of 0.89. Total OI ETH options on all exchanges are around $7.9 billion.

“The ETH call position is centered above $3k. If the position holds more pain than the maximum, the post-expiration position may leave traders overreacting to an upside move,” Deribit said.

This brings the total value of the crypto expiration to around $2.2 billion.

Spot Market Outlook

Crypto markets bounced back in the second half of this week, and the total volume is currently $3.19 trillion. Bitcoin dipped below $89,500 briefly on Thursday before recovering to regain $91,000 during the Asian trading session on Friday morning. However, it remains tied to heavy resistance above $94,000.

Ether prices held firm above $3,000, returning to the resistance area at $3,100 on Friday morning. Altcoins were in the red at the time of writing, with heavy losses for XRP, Dogecoin, and Zcash.