Today, large Bitcoin and Ethereum options are expiring! BTC is below the maximum pain point of $75k.

On May 29, 84,000 Bitcoin options and 639,000 Ethereum options expire. The maximum pain point for BTC is $75,000, and for ETH is $2,200. Both assets’ prices are currently below their respective pain points, with PCRs of 0.88 and 0.81. The implied volatility (IV) for the main expiry is universally below 35%. The options market is neutral to slightly defensive, and this week’s dominant force is risk reduction.
(Background: Nearly $10 billion in BTC and ETH options expiring tomorrow! Analysts: Dip-buying has strength, but the bottom hasn’t arrived yet.)
(Additional context: After Bitcoin pulled back to build a base at 76,900 and rebounded, ETH held at 2,285; ahead of the FOMC, $204 million in liquidations have been weighing down.)

Table of Contents

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• Trading below pain points
• PCR not extreme; main-expiry IV is nearly at rock bottom
• Watch for capital returning and key price levels

On May 29, options data platform Greeks.live shows that today there are 84,000 Bitcoin options expiring. The Put Call Ratio (PCR) is 0.88, with the maximum pain point landing at $75,000; the notional value is about $6.2 billion. At the same time, 639,000 Ethereum options also expire on the same day. The PCR is 0.81, the maximum pain point is $2,200, and the notional value is about $1.28 billion.

Trading below pain points

Greeks.live analyst Adam noted that Bitcoin this week rapidly dropped to below $75,000. While both BTC and ETH are facing large expiries, because the selloff was fast, the screen has not received support from the “maximum pain” level.

BTC is currently around $73,000, and ETH around $2,000—both below their respective maximum pain price levels.

“The poor market has only further dampened an already low level of market attention,” Adam said. In this month, only 20% of options are expiring. After the expiration, June’s options concentration rises sharply, reaching 40% of open interest—meaning June’s price action will be more influenced by options market makers’ Gamma.

PCR not extreme; main-expiry IV is nearly at rock bottom

Based on the data, the PCRs for BTC and ETH are 0.88 and 0.81 respectively, placing them in a neutral to slightly defensive range, not an extremely bearish stance. The market hasn’t previously placed large bets on a one-sided crash, and the Skew volatility is not large either; more of it is profit-taking from gains accumulated earlier.

The implied volatility (IV) for options at the primary expiry has edged up slightly, but it remains below 35% across the board—nearly a “can’t fall much further” situation. If there are no new incremental catalysts, after settlement, short-term IV is likely to fall further again.

Watch for capital returning and key price levels

What the market is watching next is whether capital can flow back in again, and whether BTC can reclaim $75,000 and ETH can recover to $2,100. This expiry looks more like a “bearish realization”—large expiries are getting settled—but both BTC and ETH are executing below their maximum pain points, indicating that this week’s dominant force is not chasing upside, but risk contraction and the retreat of longs.