Approximately 81,700 bitcoin options contracts representing about $6.4 billion in notional value are scheduled to expire on Friday at 08:00 UTC on Deribit, a crypto exchange. The contracts include roughly 44,600 calls and 37,000 puts, giving a put-to-call ratio of 0.83, which indicates bullish positioning. The $75,000 strike holds the largest call open interest at $236 million, while the $80,000 strike accounts for $157 million. Bitcoin has risen from roughly $62,000 to $80,000 over the past week, the second‑largest weekly gain in several years, pushing many call options below $80,000 into the money.

According to Deribit Metrics, the total open interest on the exchange equals about 20% of the market’s total bitcoin exposure. Deribit Chief Risk Officer Shaun Fernando said the expiry “is an interesting one to watch,” noting that volatility term structure has shifted from backwardation to contango, the bitcoin volatility index (DVOL) has risen about 30% in the last week, and call‑put skew has turned positive. He added that more than half a billion dollars of notional exposure sits within a 5% move of the current price, which could drive increased gamma hedging by market makers and create pressure for prices to gravitate toward key strike levels.

Market makers manage exposure by buying or selling bitcoin as underlying prices change, a process known as gamma hedging. When large open interest clusters near a particular strike, even modest price movements can force aggressive hedge adjustments, potentially causing the spot price to “pin” near that level. Traders therefore watch for a decisive move away from the $80,000 strike, which could trigger further price swings.

The outcome of the expiry will be closely watched to see whether the price stabilizes around the $80,000 level or breaks out with additional volatility.