What Impact Could the $15B End-of-Quarter Crypto Options Expiry Have on Today's Markets?

Around 195,400 Bitcoin options contracts, with a notional value of approximately $13.4 billion, are set to expire on March 27. This large-scale expiry event, which is greater than usual due to it marking the end of the month and quarter, could cause volatility in spot markets. The options contracts, which have a put/call ratio of 0.61, indicating more longs than shorts expiring, have a max pain of $75,000, significantly higher than current spot prices. Alongside this, around 1 million Ethereum contracts, with a notional value of $2.1 billion, are also expiring. This brings the total notional value of crypto options expiries to a massive $15.5 billion, marking the largest expiry event since late December's $27 billion contract expiry.