September 25 Options Settlement Data 167,000 BTC options expired, with a put-call ratio of 0.87, a maximum pain point of $79,000, and a notional value of $14.04 billion. 789,000 ETH options expired, with a put-call ratio of 0.67, a maximum strike price of $2,380, and a notional value of $2.1 billion. Today is the quarterly settlement date, with 32% of Bitcoin options open interest and 40% of Ethereum options expiring. The market remained relatively stable around the settlement date, with position rollovers driving most of the trading activity over the past two days. Prices have risen by $10,000 consecutively this week, breaking directly through the consolidation range near $80,000. Just as market confidence was beginning to recover, the market was hit by a security incident in which Bitget was hacked for $300 million; such thefts can no longer be called “black swan” events. Security incidents are common in the mid-to-late stages of a bear market, often preceding the start of a new market cycle. Looking at key options data, implied volatility (IV) has rebounded slightly compared to last week, but it remains lower than in other time frames, as the rally in mid-last month had a more significant impact on the market. Monthly realized volatility (RV) follows a similar pattern, with VRP across major maturities showing declines. Overall trading activity has also picked up somewhat; due to the quarterly expiration date, Gex has converged sharply around $84,000—near the settlement price. After delivery, the peaks will cluster above $90,000, while the Gex for the downside will return to a dispersed state. After a 10-month bear market, the current mini-bull market—which has lasted over a month—has seen gains in major cryptocurrencies concentrated primarily in the last two months, with market sentiment improving significantly—a positive sign. However, the short-term pressure on the market caused by the Bitget hack must be taken seriously. Currently, monthly out-of-the-money IV is not high, so it is still worth implementing some directional put protection.