Deribit's $6.25B Bitcoin Options Expiry on May 29: $75k Max-Pain, $80k/$82k Bets Surge

Deribit is heading into a high-stakes options expiry on May 29: roughly $6.25 billion worth of Bitcoin options tied to that date are set to expire, and traders have concentrated bets around a few specific strikes that could shape price action into expiry. Key levels and concentrations - $75,000 and $80,000 stand out as the most important strikes. - The $75,000 strike holds the largest put concentration, roughly $394 million in notional value. - On the call side, the $80,000 strike dominates with about $532 million notional. - The so-called max-pain price (where the most contracts would expire worthless) sits at $75,000 — just under 3% below Bitcoin’s current trading level around $77.3k. That proximity means the expiry could exert downward gravitational pressure even as the overall market leans bullish. Positioning and flow - Total open interest for the May 29 expiry is 80,535 contracts, split between 43,184 calls and 37,351 puts, yielding a put/call ratio of about 0.86 — a modestly bullish tilt. - However, traders appear to be speculating on a breakout: the BTC 29MAY26 $82,000 call was the single most actively traded instrument on Thursday, with roughly 1,600 contracts (about $126 million notional) changing hands. That heavy flow into the $82k call suggests many market participants are positioning for upside rather than a retreat. Wider context - Across the platform, Deribit’s total open interest has climbed to approximately $31.3 billion, surpassing BlackRock’s IBIT at about $27 billion (per checkonchain). That scale underscores how significant Deribit expiries can be for near-term BTC price dynamics. Why it matters - Large concentrated strikes can act as magnets or create zones of heightened volatility as traders hedge or unwind positions into expiry. With sizeable notional at $75k, $80k and growing bets on $82k, the May 29 expiry is likely to be a focal point for traders and price action in the coming days.