TechFlow News: According to Greekslive, on May 22, 21,000 BTC options expired today, with a Put/Call Ratio of 0.66, a max pain level at $78,500, and a notional value of $1.6 billion. Meanwhile, 129,000 ETH options expired, with a Put/Call Ratio of 0.92, a max pain level at $2,200, and a notional value of $280 million.
This week marked the end of BTC’s one-and-a-half-month rally, with overall market activity subdued. Expired BTC and ETH options each accounted for only ~5% of their respective open interest. BTC’s max pain level is close to its current spot price, implying relatively strong gamma/pin risk. ETH’s expiry volume was roughly half that of last week; its current spot price sits below the max pain level, suggesting implied volatility (IV) will likely decline in the short term post-expiry.
IV across all major tenors declined broadly: BTC IV fell below 35%, ETH IV dropped below 50%, and the Volatility Risk Premium (VRP) rose slightly. On the large-trade front, whales have concentrated positions in bearish put spreads expiring at the end of May—specifically, $75K/$71K puts—with a total notional value approaching $200 million. Overall, market expectations for volatility remain low, and trading enthusiasm has fallen short of expectations.
