BTC & ETH Options Expire Below Max Pain as June OI Builds

A combined $7.48 billion in BTC and ETH options expired on May 29, with both assets settling well below their respective max pain levels. Bitcoin saw 84,000 contracts expire at a put-call ratio of 0.88 and a max pain of $75,000, while Ethereum's 639,000 contracts carried a put-call ratio of 0.81 and a max pain of $2,200 — notional values of $6.2 billion and $1.28 billion respectively.

Greeks Live flagged that June contracts now represent roughly 40% of total open interest, making the next expiry cycle a meaningful one to watch. Weak risk appetite and prices trading below key technical levels continue to suppress sentiment, and the below-max-pain settlement reinforces the near-term bearish lean.

The elevated put-call ratios on both assets suggest hedging activity remains active, though neither reading is extreme enough to signal a capitulation floor.