On February 26, Deribit released the Bitcoin and Ethereum options expiry details in an optimistic market.
Today, the crypto market is up by more than 4.5% with a market cap of over $2.36 trillion.
Bitcoin and Ethereum options expiry details
Deribit revealed on X that over $8.8 billion in BTC and ETH options will expire on February 27 at 08:00 (UTC).
$7.8 billion in BTC options will expire with a Put/Call Ratio of 0.76, and a Max Pain Point of $75,000. Also, $961 million in ETH options are set to expire tomorrow with a Put/Call Ratio of 0.77 and a Max Pain Point of $2,200.
Call dominance in both assets signals a bullish positioning from traders.
🚨 Options Expiry Alert 🚨
At 08:00 UTC tomorrow, over $8.8B in crypto options are set to expire on Deribit.$BTC: ~$7.8B notional | Put/Call: 0.76 | Max Pain: $75K $ETH: ~$961M notional | Put/Call: 0.77 | Max Pain: $2,200Call OI dominates across both assets, with BTC carrying… pic.twitter.com/5r8MjeQtJ9
— Deribit (@DeribitOfficial) February 26, 2026
Deribit also highlighted that both assets crashed significantly earlier this month, with extreme put demand, but they recorded a steady recovery, as fear is unwinding.
25 delta skew explains the fear situation clearly.
Both BTC and ETH crashed to nearly -30 in early February – extreme put demand.
Since then, a steady recovery back to -8/-9.Fear is unwinding. But skew remains negative – the market isn’t fully convinced yet. pic.twitter.com/G0FEn7OiVG
— Deribit (@DeribitOfficial) February 26, 2026
Although the CMC Fear and Greed Index is still in the Extreme Fear zone, it went up to 16 from the previous lows at 5, signaling an improved overall sentiment.
Both BTC and ETH are trading in the green today, with the latter being a better performer.
Bitcoin and Ethereum price trajectories
At the moment of writing this article, BTC is trading above $68,000, up by more than 4% in the past 24 hours.
BTC debuted a price surge from $65,000 levels on February 25, topping $69,500 on the same day.
Meanwhile, ETH is trading above $2,060, up by 7% in the past 24 hours.
ETH surged from $1,920 levels, hitting a top above $2,122 on February 25, before cooling off to current levels.
Key factors supporting the market
Multiple factors are supporting the market on February 26, including continued institutional interest, a growth in retail interest in buying BTC, and stronger regulation in the industry, among others.
Positive flows in BTC, ETH ETFs
On February 25, BTC ETFs in the US saw their second consecutive inflow day above $506 million, according to SoSoValue data.
Also, ETH ETFs saw another day of inflows above $157 million, significantly higher compared to the positive flows recorded on February 24, above $9 million.
This clearly signals a comeback in institutional interest for both digital assets.
Retail interest in BTC on the rise
As we reported earlier today, worldwide retail interest in Bitcoin is the highest in 5 years. Google “buy Bitcoin” searches have reached levels seen in February 2021, while spot demand is also on the rise, as pointed out by CryptoQuant.
Clear crypto regulation
The US is preparing to codify into law the CLARITY Act, which will foster innovation in Web3, while protecting consumers and eliminating market manipulation.
Valuable information in the industry has already been released, helping protect the markets. ZachXBT will deliver an important investigation later today about insider trading at a crypto company.
All these factors, together with other important market triggers, including crypto support from X, are signaling that optimism is back, and we have enough reasons to stay bullish.
