Bitcoin Slips Below $88,000 as Traders Brace for Record $28.5 Billion Options Expiry

Bitcoin (BTC) fell below the $88,000 mark during U.S. trading on Monday, retreating from an earlier high above $90,000, as market participants brace for this Friday's record-setting options expiration on the derivatives exchange Deribit.

A total of $28.5 billion in bitcoin and ether (ETH) options are set to expire, marking the largest event in Deribit's history. This figure represents more than half of the exchange's $52.2 billion in total open interest, signaling a potentially volatile week ahead.

"This year-end expiry marks the culmination of a year defined by institutional maturity and a shift from speculative cycles to a policy-driven supercycle," said Jean-David Pequignot, Deribit's chief commercial officer.

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Trader positioning suggests a cautious outlook. Rather than closing out their defensive positions, traders appear to be rolling them forward. "There's been a shift from December $85,000–$70,000 puts into January $80,000–$75,000 put spreads," Pequignot explained. This move indicates that while traders are covering immediate year-end risk, they remain wary of what's to come in early 2026.

Crypto-related equities showed mixed performance. Hut 8 (HUT) continued its rally, closing 16% higher on Monday following its recent AI data center deal. However, Coinbase (COIN) and Robinhood (HOOD) gave up much of their earlier gains, while MicroStrategy (MSTR) swung from a 3% gain to a modest loss by the end of the day.