Bitcoin Stays Bearish As $1.47B Options Expiry Hits Amid Trump’s Bombing Threat on Iran

Bitcoin continued to be in a negative sentiment on October 16 as $1.47 billion in Bitcoin options were up for renewal and worries over possible U.S military strikes against Iran lingered. The expiration coincided with a wider pullback in financial markets, which further deterred Bitcoin’s recovery path and its next big move.

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Greeks.Live Flags Cautious Bitcoin Options Market

According to Greeks.Live, on Friday, October 16, a total of 18,000 Bitcoin options contracts expired, representing 4.5% of options total volume of positions. The contracts had a notional value of $1.47 billion, put call ratio of 1 and maximum pain price of $83,000.

Greeks.Live noted that together with the wider financial market weakness, this has been a major impact on cryptocurrencies. The analytics platform said that this week, US stocks pulled back sharply as the macroeconomic data was poor, and digital assets mostly followed the trend.

The firm also noted that there was a lack of volatility expectation. It noted that implied volatility (IV) had fallen to a level where “35% represent[s] a floor with little room for further decline.” This indicates that the recent price moves have not had much impact on the pricing of options.

October 16 Options Expiration Data

18,000 BTC options contracts expired, with a put-call ratio of 1, a maximum strike price of $83,000, and a notional value of $1.47 billion.

On today’s expiration date, 4.5% of Bitcoin options positions expired. This week, U.S. stocks… pic.twitter.com/vuF8S48WOz

— Greeks.live (@GreeksLive) October 16, 2026

Greeks.Live further explained that elevated volatility has yet to return to major options markets, even after Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies staged a strong recovery during the summer.

“Buyers remain very cautious and are unwilling to pay a premium to take on risk,” the platform stated.

The analytics firm also pointed out some key buy-and-sell levels for its options. Its assessment is that gamma exposure is now more and more concentrated around $90,000, with put options starting to attract gamma at the $80,000 level.

Greeks.Live said that downside protection remains relevant following the latest market decline. It said that with low monthly out-of-the-money implied volatility, it was worthwhile to put on the protection the prior week.

“With the market having experienced a certain degree of decline this week, it remains worthwhile to continue rolling these positions,” the firm added.

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Trump’s Iran Bombing Threat Adds To Market Pressure

In addition to geopolitical uncertainty, there is another risk for crypto investors as US-Iran war escalates. The White House and Pentagon had plans ready to drop a Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb on an Iranian military installation, if President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead, CBS News reported.

The White House didn’t confirm the reported plans. It stated that Trump has all options in front of him to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

Meanwhile, the weekly chart of Bitcoin price is taking a step toward recovery from the $60,000 lows to $82,000. The MACD indicator has entered positive territory, indicating a positive momentum, and the highlighted zone of support at $76,000 – $80,000 is still very important.

Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe stated that Bitcoin will need to hold its present weekly support level. He wrote, “I’ve stated this before, but #Bitcoin needs to hold above this weekly block and everything is fine.”

He added, “As we’ve seen a relatively strong bounce upwards on the markets, I don’t think we’re going to see a lot more downwards momentum.”