Bitcoin Faces a $2.65 Billion Options Expiry Today as Price Slides Below $76,000

Bitcoin is staring down one of the biggest options expiries of the year on Friday, November 6, 2026 — and it is doing so from a much weaker position than anyone expected a week ago. Around $2.65 billion worth of Bitcoin options expire at 08:00 UTC on Deribit today, with the price sitting near $76,100, down 5.7% in 24 hours after a brutal tech-led selloff dragged the whole crypto market lower.

The timing could hardly be worse for bulls. Bitcoin has already fallen from around $81,000 earlier in the week, and the expiry now decides whether the market steadies near $76,000 or takes another leg down toward $75,000.

What expires today — and why it matters

Today's expiry covers options on 33,135 BTC, worth roughly $2.65 billion at current prices. The split is heavily skewed: 24,912 calls against only 8,223 puts, a put-call ratio of just 0.33. That tells us most traders were positioned for higher prices — and most of those bets are now underwater. (Expiry details: KuCoin News on the November 6 Bitcoin options expiry.)

The level everyone is watching is $79,000, the so-called max pain price — the price at which the largest number of options expire worthless. With Bitcoin trading around $76,000, reaching max pain would need a sharp upward move of nearly 4% before the 08:00 UTC deadline. If the price stays where it is, call buyers take the bigger losses, and the expiry itself can add selling pressure as market makers unwind their hedges.

Key numbers from the expiry:

• 33,135 BTC in options expiring, worth about $2.65 billion
• 24,912 calls vs 8,223 puts — a put-call ratio of 0.33
• Max pain at $79,000, about 4% above the current price
• Priced-in range for the next seven days: roughly $75,800 to $84,200

How Bitcoin got here

The slide started on Wall Street. On Thursday, November 5, US technology stocks suffered their worst day since April 2025, with the Nasdaq falling 5.52% and the Nasdaq 100 dropping 6.36%. The trigger was the midterm election result — Democrats taking both chambers of Congress — which investors read as a brake on the artificial-intelligence data-centre buildout. Crypto, which has traded like a high-beta tech asset all year, followed stocks straight down.

Bitcoin's 24-hour range tells the story: a high near $80,835 and a low of $75,208, the lowest level in seven weeks. Ether fell even harder, down 7.5% to about $2,241, and Solana lost more than 6%. Total crypto market capitalisation dropped 7.84% to about $2.57 trillion.

The leverage washout was severe. More than $1 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated in 24 hours, mostly longs caught on the wrong side of the move. Bitcoin's 14-day RSI sits at 38.95 — not yet oversold, but approaching that territory.

The Strategy cost-basis test

One level is drawing particular attention: $75,451. That is the average cost of Strategy's Bitcoin holdings — 849,327 BTC disclosed on November 2 — and the current price is only about 0.83% above it. If Bitcoin slips below that line, the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder would be sitting on an unrealised loss on its entire stack, a psychological blow the market is watching closely.

For comparison, the average cost basis of US spot Bitcoin ETF holders is estimated at around $81,500, meaning the current price is roughly 6.7% below what ETF buyers paid on average. Yet flows have not collapsed: US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded about $75 million in net inflows on November 4, ending three days of outflows.

The levels that decide the next move

Technically, Bitcoin is at a crossroads. Immediate resistance sits around $76,371, with further resistance at $81,911, $82,000 and $85,000 above that. Below, the levels to watch are $79,000 (max pain), $75,000 and $73,163. Deribit's volatility index, DVOL, stood at 38 on Wednesday evening — elevated, but not panicked.

It is worth keeping the bigger picture in mind. Even after this week's fall, Bitcoin is trading nearly 40% below its all-time high of $126,080. The asset has survived drawdowns of this size many times before, and every one of them eventually ended the same way — with the market finding a floor when sellers ran out of urgency.

Whether that floor is $75,000 or lower will be decided in part by today's expiry, and in part by Friday's US jobs report, which lands at 8:30 a.m. Eastern and will shape expectations for the Federal Reserve's next move.

For a deeper look at how to think about Bitcoin's price in a falling market, see our guide on how to buy Bitcoin in Pakistan — the principles of sizing a position and avoiding leverage apply everywhere. And for the wider market context, the Zimbuck News page is tracking every development in this selloff as it happens.

FAQ

What is a Bitcoin options expiry? It is the date when a batch of Bitcoin options contracts settles. Traders who bought calls or puts either exercise them or let them expire worthless, and market makers unwind the hedges they built around those contracts — which can push the price around the expiry.

What is max pain? Max pain is the price at which the largest number of outstanding options expire worthless, causing the maximum loss to option buyers. Market makers sometimes have an incentive to push the price toward it, though it is never guaranteed.

Why did Bitcoin fall below $76,000? A sharp selloff in US tech stocks after the midterm elections spilled into crypto. Bitcoin fell 5.7% in 24 hours, Ether fell 7.5%, and more than $1 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated.

Is $75,000 an important level? Yes. It is close to Strategy's average Bitcoin cost of $75,451 and near the recent lows. Holding above it keeps the structure intact; losing it opens the way toward $73,163.

Bitcoin's $2.65 billion options expiry is a genuine test of the market's nerve — but expiries pass, hedges unwind, and the market moves on to the next catalyst. The discussion continues in the Zimbuck Market News group — and if you want to follow every twist of this story, join the conversation on Zimbuck — the finance social platform for traders and investors.

This article is market news and general information only, not financial advice. Always do your own research before making any investment decision.