Key points

  • Deribit's public API showed roughly $14.21 billion in Bitcoin options and $2.13 billion in Ether options open for the September 25 expiry at 05:13 UTC.
  • The contracts settle at 08:00 UTC, and the dollar value can change before then as positions and the underlying asset prices move.
  • A large notional expiry does not mean the same amount will change hands or establish the direction of Bitcoin or Ether after settlement.

Bitcoin and Ether options with a combined notional value of about $16.3 billion were approaching quarterly settlement on Deribit on Friday, placing one of the year's larger crypto derivatives expiries in focus. Deribit's public market-data API showed approximately $14.21 billion in Bitcoin options and $2.13 billion in Ether options tied to the September 25 contract at 05:13 UTC. The contracts are scheduled to settle at 08:00 UTC.

A large book moves toward settlement

The same snapshot showed about 90,950 Bitcoin in call open interest and 77,875 Bitcoin in puts. For Ether, calls represented roughly 477,772 ETH and puts about 316,308 ETH. Open interest measures contracts that remain outstanding; the dollar totals are estimates based on the assets' underlying prices and can change before expiry as traders close or roll positions and as Bitcoin and Ether move.

Related reporting: Ether ETFs lose $39M while bitcoin funds draw $159M

Independent tracker PerpFinder, which aggregates Deribit data, reported closely matching figures at 04:28 UTC: $14.22 billion for Bitcoin and $2.13 billion for Ether. Its Bitcoin put-to-call open-interest ratio was 0.85, while Ether's was about 0.66. A ratio below one means call open interest exceeded put open interest in that snapshot, but it does not by itself predict a price increase. Options are often combined with spot, futures and other options as hedges rather than simple directional bets.

Why the headline number needs context

The notional value is the face value of the contracts, not an estimate of cash that will enter or leave the market at settlement. Only contracts that finish in the money have intrinsic value, and the final payout depends on the settlement price and strike. Positions may also have been offset elsewhere. Treating the full $16.3 billion as a potential market buy or sell would therefore overstate the event's direct financial impact.

Earlier in the week, Deribit chief executive Luuk Strijers told CoinDesk that the Bitcoin expiry was one of the platform's largest of the year and that the book had been call-heavy. CoinDesk's earlier snapshot put the combined Bitcoin and Ether total near $18 billion. The difference from Friday's lower figure illustrates why expiry totals are time-sensitive: underlying prices and open positions change, so comparisons should identify when each reading was taken.

What traders will watch after 08:00 UTC

Large expiries can matter because market makers adjust spot or futures hedges as option prices and deltas change. When contracts settle, part of that hedging demand can disappear, allowing short-term trading ranges to reset. The effect is not automatic, however, and other flows can dominate. A rise or fall after settlement would not prove that the expiry caused it.

Settlement also removes contracts that no longer carry exposure, reducing the headline open-interest total immediately after the deadline. That mechanical decline should not be confused with investors abandoning the market. Some positions expire worthless, some pay out and others are replaced with later-dated contracts as participants maintain hedges or extend their strategies.

Attention is likely to shift quickly to October and December contracts as traders roll exposure forward. The most useful post-settlement signals will be how much open interest migrates to later maturities, whether implied volatility changes and where new call and put concentrations form. Those measures describe positioning and risk demand; they are not investment recommendations or reliable forecasts of the next market move.

Sources

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