Deribit saw a record $40 billion in open interest for bitcoin options ahead of the largest quarterly expiry of the year, clearing 139,000 BTC and 939,000 ETH contracts on Friday in a strong showing for crypto derivatives markets.
According to data from The Block, total options open interest across all exchanges exceeded $45 billion, with Deribit accounting for nearly 90% of the bitcoin share. The June 27 expiry alone cleared about $15 billion in notional BTC volume. The put-call ratio ended at 0.75, pointing to a bias toward bullish positioning. The max pain point — the price at which most options expire worthless — was pinned at $102,000.
Ethereum options also rolled off, with 939,000 ETH contracts expiring, representing $2.29 billion in notional value. The ETH put-call ratio settled at 0.52, while max pain came in near $2,200.
Prices were mixed after the expiry. Bitcoin held steady around $106,800, while Ether slipped nearly 2% to $2,440. Altcoins mostly followed Ether lower, with the GMCI 30 Index drifting as names like XRP, SOL, and ADA came under pressure.
Timothy Misir, head of research at BRN, noted the divergence in volatility expectations. Bitcoin’s implied volatility dropped below 35% across short and medium-term horizons, while Ether’s IV pushed up toward 65%, with a 30% spread over several days.
“This points to the market viewing bitcoin as relatively steady, while pricing more uncertainty into Ethereum, even with continued institutional demand,” Misir said in a note.
Despite the dip in altcoins, BRN analysts suggested the decline was more about positioning than panic. “Bitcoin’s relative strength during the expiry points to steady demand,” Misir added. “Altcoins may simply be going through routine consolidation after a busy derivatives cycle.”
Earlier this month, Deribit and spot trading platform Crypto.com began accepting BlackRock’s tokenized US Treasury fund as collateral, giving institutional and experienced traders access to a low-volatility, yield-generating asset for margin accounts.
The move allows traders to use BlackRock’s BUIDL fund — a digital version of US Treasurys — to secure leveraged positions, reducing capital requirements while offering a stable, interest-bearing alternative to traditional stablecoins.
The development follows Coinbase’s recently announced $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit, set in motion in May 2025. That deal, if completed, could deepen Coinbase’s reach into the crypto derivatives space while tying in traditional financial instruments like tokenized treasurys.
