ETH Options Surge: $9.5B Expiry, Implied Volatility Nears 70% and Max Pain at $4,250

Options expiry data released August 22 show 34,000 BTC options expired with a Put-Call Ratio of 1.3, a maximum pain at $118,000 and a notional size of $3.82 billion, while 220,000 ETH options expired with a Put-Call Ratio of 0.82, a maximum pain at $4,250 and a notional value of $9.5 billion.

Analyst Adam characterized this week’s theme as price retracement, noting both assets remain proximate to their all-time highs and market sentiment is relatively optimistic. Roughly $5 billion of options expired this week, representing about 8% of current total open interest — a comparatively low weekly proportion versus historical norms and similar to the current daily spot trading volume.

Key metrics indicate a material rebound in implied volatility: BTC mid-term IV has recovered above 35%, ETH’s longer-term IV is approaching 70% and short-term IV exceeds 80%. The options market is exhibiting clear divergences, with a modestly stronger bearish bias on future volatility, based on the presented expiries and IV term structure.