Bitcoin options worth $6.44 billion are set to expire on Deribit on Aug. 28 (all times local).

Blockchain media outlet Decrypto reported the expiry covers 81,700 contracts. It consists of 44,639 call options and 37,061 put options. The put-to-call ratio is 0.83, with a higher share of calls.

The expiry is drawing attention not only for its size but also because it coincides with bitcoin testing its first resistance level around $80,000. The market is watching how hedging trades by option sellers, rather than the expiry itself, affect actual bitcoin supply and demand.

Deribit’s max pain level is around $68,000 to $70,000. That is $9,000 to $11,000 below the spot bitcoin price of about $79,000 at the time. Max pain refers to the price range where the largest number of options expire worthless. The wider the gap from the spot price, the stronger hedging demand could become before settlement, which is a focus for the market.

Still, the $6.44 billion figure is a notional amount rather than the size of actual fund flows. Many contracts could expire out of the money. The strike prices with the largest open interest in bitcoin options are $75,000 and $80,000. That means more than $500 million in notional positions sit within 5 percent of the spot price, making it likely that hedging trades continue around those levels.

Some point out that a large expiry does not necessarily lead directly to sharp price swings. Frank Hepworth (프랭크 헵워스), chief executive officer of New Market Trading, expected 62 percent of contracts expiring on Aug. 28 to finish worthless. He also noted that September expiries have already built to almost twice the size of this week’s. He said if this week’s pullback continues through Aug. 28, there is a need to watch the 200-day moving average around $69,000.

In the past, large expiries have not always shaken the market. At a $15 billion expiry in June 2025, max pain was $102,000, but bitcoin’s price barely moved. The reaction was also limited at Deribit’s $13.3 billion expiry last December.

The difference in this expiry lies in the price levels under pressure, rather than the distance between max pain and the spot price. Because bitcoin is near the $75,000 and $80,000 strikes, hedging activity by option sellers could continue. In addition, inflows into bitcoin and ether spot exchange-traded funds and the Jackson Hole event are also scheduled for the same period this week.

Deribit contracts settle at 08:00 UTC on Aug. 28. At around the same time, Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh (케빈 워시) is scheduled to speak at Jackson Hole, raising the possibility that the market reaction to the combination of the options expiry and macro events could shape short-term price moves.

The key to this expiry is concentration of positions by price level and hedging demand, rather than the headline total. With bitcoin’s spot price straddling $75,000 and $80,000, position adjustments in the options market could directly affect spot trading, making it the central issue for this expiry.