Ethereum Options Market Sees Large Activity After September Expiry

The Ethereum options market saw significant activity after the September expiry on Deribit. The exchange processed a large block of Ether options, totaling $4.8 billion in notional value. Of this, $1.34 billion was in call open interest and $820.1 million was in put open interest, resulting in a put/call ratio of 0.61. This concentration is typical of the Ethereum market, which remains more concentrated than Bitcoin.

The max pain level for this expiry was $2,200, indicating that traders were positioning themselves for prices to remain near this level. However, the actual ETH spot price broke through $1,800 after the settlement, and the 25-delta risk reversal shifted towards a bullish position. The 7-day skew for ETH reached -0.7%, less bearish than Bitcoin's -2.2% reading.

The Ethereum term structure also normalized from its mild inversion last week. Implied volatility for Ethereum was higher in late 2025, allowing premium-selling strategies to remain well-compensated. As a result, calls made up 61% of Ethereum options open interest in March 2026, covering 2.22 million ETH.