Crypto Market Faces $28B Options Expiry as Bitcoin Holds $88K
Cryptocurrency markets limped along on Monday, barely budging as traders sat on their hands awaiting the record options expiry later...
Quick overview
- Cryptocurrency markets are stagnant as traders await a significant options expiry later this week, with total market capitalization at $3.07 trillion.
- Bitcoin and Ethereum experienced slight declines, with Bitcoin down 0.7% to $88,088 and Ethereum down 1% to $2,987.
- Market sentiment remains negative, indicated by a Crypto Fear & Greed Index score of 24, reflecting extreme fear among investors.
- Global macroeconomic pressures and seasonal trading patterns are contributing to low liquidity and limited price movements in the crypto market.
Cryptocurrency markets limped along on Monday, barely budging as traders sat on their hands awaiting the record options expiry later this week. The total crypto market capitalisation crept down a tick to $3.07 trillion. Bitcoin took a tiny 0.7% tumble to $88,088, while Ethereum dropped a whole 1% to $2,987. Some of the other coins to keep an eye on were Chainlink, which slipped 0.6% to $12.49, and Sui, which lost 0.4% to $1.45. Meanwhile, smaller altcoins like Zcash, Monero, and Ethena were taking a real beating, with declines of over 5%.
Market sentiment is still a long way from looking healthy. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index slipped slightly to 24, which remains a clear signal that people are in extreme fear.
Options Expiry Makes Price Fluctuations a Little More Complicated
Everyone’s keeping a close eye on what’s being called a historic options expiry on December 26, with a whopping $27-$28.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum contracts set to expire on Deribit – a big chunk of which is just in Bitcoin, at $23.6 billion, with Ethereum making up about $3.8 billion.
💥BREAKING:
A RECORD $28.5 BILLION IN CRYPTO OPTIONS EXPIRE ON FRIDAY pic.twitter.com/4tht5mK5ZP
— Crypto Rover (@cryptorover) December 22, 2025
- Options give you the right to buy or sell at some predetermined price – it’s like having an insurance policy for the value of your crypto.
- When there’s a large cluster of contracts at a particular strike price, it makes market makers nervous, so they trade on the spot market to hedge their bets.
- And as a result, all this hedging tends to keep short-term price swings to a minimum.
Even as implied volatility rises, the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum are stuck because the market is heavily weighted toward these major strike prices. And with so many people sitting on their hands for now, awaiting clearer market direction after options expiry, there’s not much going on at the moment.
Low Liquidity And Macro Pressure
Seasonal factors are making things more difficult right now. December is often a quiet month for trading as funds get their books in order. And as for Bitcoin, it’s still down around 28-30% from its high back in October, near $125,000.
🚨 THIS FRIDAY IS A BIG DEAL FOR BITCOIN
On Dec 26, over $23.6 BILLION worth of $BTC options expire –
the largest Bitcoin options expiry in history.This isn’t retail noise.
This is institutional risk coming off the table at once.Why it matters 👇
• Options = leveraged bets… pic.twitter.com/2cWCsmZgMl
— Mayank Dudeja || SPYONGEMS (@imcryptofreak) December 22, 2025
And things aren’t looking great when it comes to global macro-economic conditions either:
- The Bank of Japan raised interest rates to 0.75%, which doesn’t help risk assets.
- People are piling into safe havens like gold and silver, which have both hit all-time highs.
- US equities are also feeling the pinch, as investors are getting a bit worried about the valuations of some of the tech stocks driving the whole AI thing.
In the short term, I’d expect Bitcoin to consolidate, with any big moves likely to wait until options expiry passes. In the meantime, though, traders should be prepared for some pretty choppy trading, and any downward moves will likely be pretty limited – unless those liquidations really start to kick in.
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