About $16.6 billion in Bitcoin and Ethereum options on Deribit are scheduled to expire on September 25, 2026. Bitcoin accounts for approximately $14.63 billion, while Ethereum represents $1.93 billion. Calls, which benefit from rising prices, outnumber puts, which benefit from falling prices: Bitcoin’s put/call open interest ratio is 0.52 and Ethereum’s is 0.57. With Bitcoin trading near $78,000 as of September 14, the concentration of higher-strike call positions indicates that many traders are positioned for prices to rise before settlement. The estimated max-pain level, where the largest number of open contracts would expire worthless, is between $72,000 and $75,000 for Bitcoin. Max pain is a traditional options-market theory suggesting that prices can gravitate toward the level that minimizes total payouts for options sellers, although traders do not necessarily follow it. Deribit processes the overwhelming majority of global Bitcoin and Ethereum options volume, giving hedging activity by large market makers an outsized potential effect on spot prices. When calls move into the money, market makers may buy the underlying asset to delta-hedge their positions, potentially amplifying gains; puts can produce the opposite hedging flow. Traders are focused on changes in the put/call ratios, implied volatility as expiration approaches, and whether Bitcoin remains above the $75,000 zone. A sustained break below that level would alter the hedging dynamics in a market where calls currently dominate.