Crypto Traders Brace for Options Expiry Amidst Bearish Predictions and Bullish Speculations.

On Friday, $4.57 billion worth of bitcoin options contracts and $2.3 billion worth of ether contracts will expire on Deribit exchange, which controls over 85% of the global options activity. The bitcoin contracts due for settlement account for 43% of the total open interest. Investors have recently bought call options with strike prices at and above $30,000, which has the highest open interest. Dealers' negative gamma positioning means a slight move away from $30,000 could translate into an explosive rally or price slide. In ether's case, market makers have accumulated long gamma positions in the ether market, and hence the risk of a gamma squeeze in Ethereum's native token is relatively low.