{"id":11446,"date":"2026-05-02T05:00:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T05:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ad-doge.com\/blog\/bitcoin-slips-below-key-holder-cost-basis-ahead-of-1-74b-options-expiry\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T05:00:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T05:00:25","slug":"bitcoin-slips-below-key-holder-cost-basis-ahead-of-1-74b-options-expiry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ad-doge.com\/blog\/bitcoin-slips-below-key-holder-cost-basis-ahead-of-1-74b-options-expiry\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin Slips Below Key Holder Cost Basis Ahead Of $1.74B Options Expiry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bitcoin is trading below a key cost threshold that short-term holders paid to acquire it \u2014 a sign that many recent buyers are sitting on losses heading into one of the largest options expiry events of the month.<\/p>\n

Bitcoin: Bears Hold The Edge Going Into Expiry<\/h2>\n

Glassnode data shows Bitcoin<\/a> is currently priced under the Short-Term Holder Cost Basis of $78,900, and also below the True Market Mean of $78,000.<\/p>\n

Support is seen further down, in the $65,000\u2013$70,000 range. That backdrop sets a cautious tone as roughly 23,000 Bitcoin options contracts \u2014 worth $1.74 billion \u2014 are set to expire today on derivatives exchange Deribit.<\/p>\n

The put-call ratio for those contracts sits at 1.10, meaning more traders are betting on price declines than on gains.<\/p>\n

Bitcoin’s max pain price \u2014 the level where the greatest number of options expire worthless \u2014 is $76,000, slightly below where it was trading at press time around $77,200.<\/p>\n

Deribit<\/a> has flagged the settlement as one to watch closely, with data showing a 95% probability that Bitcoin options expire above that $76,000 mark. Heavy volume is concentrated at the $75,500 and $77,000 strike prices.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\ud83d\udea8\" May 1st Options Expiry Alert.
\nAt 08:00 UTC today, ~$2.14B in crypto options are set to expire on Deribit.$BTC<\/a>: ~$1.74B notional | Put\/Call: 1.10 | Max Pain: $76,000$ETH<\/a>: ~$394M notional | Put\/Call: 0.95 | Max Pain: $2,325<\/p>\n

BTC spot pinned right at max pain. ETH trading\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/UC2GkTnBMb<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Deribit (@DeribitOfficial) May 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In the past 24 hours, the put-call ratio for Bitcoin trading activity climbed to 0.73, while overall volume dropped. The Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates unchanged contributed to the slowdown.<\/p>\n

Ethereum Sits Below Its Own Pain Point<\/h2>\n

Ethereum<\/a> is facing similar pressure. More than 175,000 ETH options worth $400 million are expiring on Deribit today, with a put-call ratio of 0.95. In the last 24 hours alone, put volume rose sharply past call volume, pushing that ratio to 1.17 \u2014 a sign traders are adjusting for potential downside.<\/p>\n

What makes Ethereum’s situation slightly different is where it’s trading relative to max pain. The ETH max pain price is $2,325, but the token was changing hands around $2,284 at the time of writing \u2014 already below that level. Its 24-hour range ran from $2,232 to $2,293. Trading volume fell 45% over the past day.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nBroader Pressures Weigh On Crypto Markets<\/p>\n

The options expiry is not happening in a vacuum. US PCE inflation came in at a three-year high of 3.5%, rattling broader markets and prompting profit-taking across crypto.<\/p>\n

Oil prices rose to $106 a barrel as the US maintained a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>. Reports indicate US President Donald Trump has rejected Iran’s offer to end the standoff, with reports of a possible escalation adding to market unease.<\/p>\n

Together, those factors have kept buyers cautious. Crypto markets saw widespread selling after the inflation data dropped, and uncertainty around the geopolitical situation has not eased.<\/p>\n

Whether today’s options expiry adds to that pressure \u2014 or passes without incident \u2014 may depend on whether Bitcoin can hold above the $76,000 mark when contracts settle.<\/p>\n

Featured image from Gemini, chart from TradingView<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bitcoin is trading below a key cost threshold that short-term holders paid to acquire it \u2014 a sign that many recent buyers are sitting on losses heading into one of the largest options expiry events of the month. Bitcoin: Bears Hold The Edge Going Into Expiry Glassnode data shows Bitcoin is currently priced under the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,32,51,69,71,2641,461,4902],"class_list":["post-11446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bitcoin","tag-bitcoin","tag-btc","tag-crypto","tag-eth","tag-ethereum","tag-iran","tag-options","tag-strait-of-hormuz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ad-doge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ad-doge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ad-doge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ad-doge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ad-doge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ad-doge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ad-doge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ad-doge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ad-doge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ad-doge.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}