Halloween Haunting: Record $31 Billion Bitcoin Options Set to Expire - Crypto Markets Brace for Impact
Wall Street's favorite holiday just got a crypto twist - $31 billion in Bitcoin derivatives are about to face their execution date.
The Great Unwinding
October 31st isn't just for ghosts and goblins anymore. A record-breaking pile of Bitcoin options contracts - enough to make traditional finance quiver - hits expiration as traders navigate the spookiest trading session of the year.
Market makers are scrambling while volatility traders place their final bets. The crypto derivatives market has never seen numbers this massive - proving once again that digital assets are rewriting the rulebook on market infrastructure.
Maximum Pain Theory Meets Maximum Gain
With positions this enormous, the entire ecosystem holds its breath. Will we see a classic 'pinning' effect where prices gravitate toward the most painful strike levels? Or will Bitcoin break free and scare the shorts into submission?
Meanwhile, traditional finance executives are probably wondering why anyone would schedule such massive risk events around candy collection hours - but that's crypto for you: disrupting everything, including holiday trading calendars.
One thing's certain - when $31 billion in derivatives expires in a single session, someone's getting treats while others get tricks. The only question is who brought the bigger bag.
US stocks jump on CPI data
The market has awaited the release of the September consumer price index report with greater anticipation than in recent months.
Part of this is down to the economic data blackout occasioned by the government shutdown that’s going into a fourth week.
What to expect of US CPI ahead of the release was the main question ahead of Friday’s reading. But when the time came, the forecast 0.4% month-on-month reading came in at 0.3%, and that appeared to trigger a positive reaction from investors
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI data showed an annual inflation rate of 3%, below the forecast 3.1%. Core CPI, which ignores food and energy, came in at 0.2% in September and 3% annually – again cooler than economists’ forecasts of 0.3% and 3.1%, MoM and YoY, respectively.
Investors now have their eyes on the Fed, with odds of a rate cut in October at 98-99%. Per the CME Fedwatch tool, bets on a 25 basis points cut in December 2025 have jumped from 91% to 98.5%.
As well as the Fed cut, market sentiment is upbeat amid President Donald Trump’s anticipated meeting with China’s Xi Jinping on trade matters. Robust earnings results also continue to buoy stocks. Analysts also expect cryptocurrencies to gain amid the risk asset markets, which tick up.
