Bitcoin’s Baffling Expiry: Options, Tariffs, and a Dash of Chaos! 😂

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Ah, the day has arrived when 28,000 Bitcoin options contracts—worth a princely sum of about $2.25 billion—are expiring. It’s rather like a crowded banquet in Ankh-Morpork where the main course is financial mumbo jumbo served with a cheeky side of existential dread. 😏

This week, derivatives trading was so muted it made a librarian’s whisper sound like a wizard’s duel. In consequence, the spot markets are expected to remain about as jittery as a cat on a hot tin roof.

Meanwhile, the markets behaved like a temperamental elephant on roller skates—plummeting to a five-month low before bouncing back on the extraordinary tale of global tariff flip-flops (a real-life magical mystery, courtesy of the Trump administration).

Bitcoin Options Expiry

In the enchanted realm of Bitcoin options, a put/call ratio of 0.88 tells us that the forces of optimism and gloom are nearly equal—a balance as delicate as a wizard’s potion. The infamous max pain point stands at $82,000, which is where most poor souls are destined to encounter their financial equivalent of a boarding school headmaster’s whipping.

Adding to the spectacle, the open interest is peaking at the $70,000 strike price, with just over a billion dollars betting that Bitcoin will go on a downward stroll. Meanwhile, the bullish enthusiasts hover around the $100,000 mark as if guarding a treasure chest with uneasily trembling hands.

Options Expiry Alert

At 08:00 UTC tomorrow, over $2.59B in crypto options are set to disappear into the ether on Deribit. $BTC: $2.32B notional | Put/Call: 0.97 | Max Pain: $82K. $ETH: $270M notional | Put/Call: 0.91 | Max Pain: $1,750.

With market antics reminiscent of a troll in a tutu…

— Deribit (@DeribitOfficial) April 10, 2025

The wise (and slightly over-caffeinated) sages at Greeks Live declared themselves “cautiously bullish” after US President Donald Trump—yes, that reality-bending fellow—announced a 90-day pause on tariffs. Their measured optimism was as subtle as an overly large hat on a head of wizardry, though skeptics whispered that this rally might vanish faster than a plate of sausages at a dwarfish feast.

“Key levels being watched are $85K as a near-term target and $100K as longer-term resistance, with traders debating whether this news-driven pump will eventually be faded.”

Some crafty traders, armed with what can only be described as insider prophecies, piled into the $75,000 to $77,500 range just hours before the tariff pause was announced—a move rather like finding secret recipes in a wizard’s cookbook.

Not to be outdone, today also marks the expiry of roughly 183,000 Ethereum contracts. With a notional value of $283 million, a max pain point of $1,750, and a put/call ratio of 0.92, this batch adds to Friday’s grand total of around $2.5 billion in cryptic expiries.

Crypto Market Outlook

Stepping back to survey the bizarre landscape, crypto market capitalization has taken a nosedive—down 3.6% over the past 24 hours—to a humble $2.65 trillion. One might imagine a celestial accountant scribbling furiously in the margins.

Bitcoin, which flirted with an $83,000 dalliance on Thursday, later decided to slip beneath $79,000—as if seeking a snug hideaway from disappointing CPI figures—before gingerly recovering to the $80,000 neighbourhood in the bustling bazaars of Asian trading.

As for Ethereum, it remains in the bear market’s chilly embrace, having tumbled 4% to a pitiful $1,540. Yet, like a motley crew of adventurers, Cardano (ADA), Avalanche (AVAX), and Hedera (HBAR) enjoyed minor gains, moving at a pace that would impress even the most patient of trolls.

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2025-04-11 09:00