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Bitcoin max pain today

Max pain for every open Bitcoin options expiry, from Deribit, OKX and Bybit open interest. The next expiry settles Thursday 22 October at 08:00 UTC with max pain at 82,500; BTC is 83,390. Last updated 21 October 2026, 12:48 UTC.

Max pain, next expiry82,500Thu 22 Oct in 19 h · -1.1 % from price
Max pain, this Friday82,000Fri 23 Oct in 43 h · -1.7 % from price
Max pain, next monthly79,000Fri 30 Oct in 9 days · -5.3 % from price
Open options430,029 BTC$35.86B across 11 expiries

Max pain for every expiry

Each dot is one expiry. If max pain were a magnet, the dots would sit on the dashed line at expiry; the record further down shows how often that happened.

70,00075,00080,00085,00090,00095,00083,39022 Oct: max pain 82,500, open interest 6,670 BTC22 OctD23 Oct: max pain 82,000, open interest 19,743 BTC23 OctW24 Oct: max pain 83,000, open interest 1,173 BTC24 OctD25 Oct: max pain 83,500, open interest 388 BTC25 OctD30 Oct: max pain 79,000, open interest 149,418 BTC30 OctM06 Nov: max pain 82,000, open interest 12,277 BTC6 NovW27 Nov: max pain 81,000, open interest 32,471 BTC27 NovM25 Dec: max pain 75,000, open interest 142,036 BTC25 DecQamber = max pain (size = open interest) · cyan = expected move · dashed = BTC now
ExpiryTypeMax painFrom priceOpen interest, BTCNotionalPut/callExpected move
Thu 22 OctDAILY82,500-1.1 %6,670$556M0.89±1.4 %
Fri 23 OctWEEKLY82,000-1.7 %19,743$1.65B1.05±2.2 %
Sat 24 OctDAILY83,000-0.5 %1,173$98M1.46±2.7 %
Sun 25 OctDAILY83,500+0.1 %388$32M1.51±2.8 %
Fri 30 OctMONTHLY79,000-5.3 %149,418$12.46B0.63±5.0 %
Fri 06 NovWEEKLY82,000-1.7 %12,277$1.02B0.46±7.5 %
Fri 27 NovMONTHLY81,000-2.9 %32,471$2.71B0.68±11.3 %
Fri 25 DecQUARTERLY75,000-10.1 %142,036$11.84B0.65±15.2 %
Fri 26 MarQUARTERLY76,000-8.9 %46,318$3.86B0.66±24.5 %
Fri 25 JunQUARTERLY70,000-16.1 %15,002$1.25B0.53±31.6 %
Fri 24 SepQUARTERLY84,000+0.7 %4,532$378M0.87±37.3 %

Open interest from Deribit, OKX and Bybit added together. Expected move = what at-the-money implied volatility prices from now until 08:00 UTC on expiry day (one standard deviation). Monthly and quarterly expiries in bold.

The max pain curve for 30 October

For every possible settlement price, the curve adds up what all open calls and puts on 30 October would pay. Max pain is simply the lowest point: 79,000. 149,418 BTC of open interest, put/call 0.63.

$231M$461M$692M$922Mmax pain 79,000BTC 83,39070,00075,00080,00085,00090,00095,000100,000settlement price → · height = what option holders would collect in total

Full breakdown of this expiry, with open interest by strike and the result after settlement: BTC options expiry 30 October.

Max pain against the real settlement

Our record so far: 1 expiries since we started logging. Median distance from max pain to the settlement: 1.26 %. The settlement was closer to max pain than to the price in the last snapshot in 0 of 1. Snapshot = 07:25 UTC, just before the 30-minute settlement window starts.
ExpiryTypeMax painPrice beforeSettledFrom max painCloser to
Wed 21 OctDAILY82,00082,72683,029+1.26 %price

How max pain is calculated

  1. Take every open call and put for one expiry, with its strike and open interest.
  2. Pretend the expiry settles at a given price. A call pays settlement minus strike if that is positive; a put pays strike minus settlement. Multiply by open interest and add everything up.
  3. Do that for every strike. The settlement price with the smallest total is max pain.

It says where the open positions would pay out the least. It says nothing about who holds them, and no one is obliged to move the price there. The max pain guide goes deeper, including our test of whether Bitcoin "pins" to max pain.

Open the live options chain BTC funding and open interestBTC levels now

FAQ

What is Bitcoin max pain?

Max pain is the settlement price at which Bitcoin option holders, calls and puts together, would collect the least money at expiry. It is found by trying every strike as the settlement price and adding up what each open option would pay. It uses only open interest, so it is arithmetic on positions, not a forecast.

What is max pain today?

The table above shows max pain for every open expiry, starting with the one that settles next at 08:00 UTC. It is recalculated every few minutes from open interest on Deribit, OKX and Bybit.

Does the price move to max pain before expiry?

There is no rule that it should, and often it does not. Big expiries can settle thousands of dollars from max pain. This page keeps its own record of where each expiry settled compared with max pain just before the settlement window, so you can see how close it really came.

Why is max pain different on other sites?

Sites use different exchanges and update at different times. We add Deribit, OKX and Bybit together; a site that uses only Deribit, or yesterday's numbers, will often show another strike, especially for small daily expiries.

When do Bitcoin options expire?

Deribit options settle at 08:00 UTC: daily options every day, weekly options on Fridays, monthly options on the last Friday of the month and quarterly options on the last Friday of March, June, September and December. The settlement price is the average of the index over the 30 minutes before 08:00.

What is the put/call ratio?

Open interest in puts divided by open interest in calls for the same expiry. Above 1 means more puts are open than calls. It counts positions, not who bought or sold them.

Data: Deribit, OKX and Bybit public options data; settlement prices from Deribit. Descriptive data, not a forecast or financial advice.