Bitcoin slips below $88,000 as traders brace for $28.5 billion Deribit options expiry

Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Bitcoin slips below $88,000 as traders brace for $28.5B Deribit options expiry Crypto continues to lose ground ahead of this week's record options expiration, while defensive positioning and thinning liquidity suggest caution into 2026. By Helene Braun | Edited by Stephen Alpher Dec 22, 2025, 8:46 p.m. Choppy action continues in crypto (Ogutier/Pixabay) What to know : Bitcoin and crypto prices moved steadily lower in U.S. Monday afternoon trading. Over $28.5 billion in bitcoin and ether options are set to expire Friday on derivatives exchange Deribit, the largest expiry in its history. Bitcoin BTC $ 88,222.50 and other crypto assets again fell steadily through the U.S. session on Monday, with BTC sliding below $88,000 after earlier having climbed above $90,000 and ETH ducking back below $3,000. Some crypto-related stocks are still holding gains, led by Hut 8 (HUT), which continues to rise following its deal last week for a 15-year AI data center lease with Fluidstack . Shares are higher by 16% Monday, helped by a price target increase Benchmark's Mark Palmer. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . Other names in the green include Coinbase (COIN) and Robinhood (HOOD), though both are well off session highs as crypto prices have pulled back. Strategy (MSTR) has swung from a 3% gain to a modest loss late in the day. Options expiration The recent highly choppy price action between $85,000 and $90,000, comes ahead of Friday's record-setting $28.5 billion in BTC and ETH options expirations on crypto derivatives exchange Deribit. That amount represents more than half of Deribit's $52.2 billion in open interest, noted Jean-David Pequignot, the exchange's chief commercial officer. "This year-end expiry marks the culmination of a year defined by institutional maturity and a shift from speculative cycles to a policy-driven supercycle," said Pequignot. At the center of the action, Pequignot continued, is bitcoin’s $96,000 “max pain” level, where option writers stand to benefit most. A notable $1.2 billion in open interest is clustered at the $85,000 strike in puts, which could pull spot prices lower if selling pressure builds. While mid-term call spreads targeting $100,000–$125,000 remain in play, short-term protective puts have grown more expensive, he said. The skew between call and put pricing has dropped from recent highs but still indicates caution, Pequignot continued. Traders appear to be rolling defensive positions forward rather than closing them out, he said. According to Péquignot, there's been a shift from December $85,000–$70,000 puts into January $80,000–$75,000 put spreads. This suggests that while the immediate risk into year-end is being covered, traders remain wary of what’s ahead. Options Bitcoin News Market Wrap More For You State of the Blockchain 2025 By CoinDesk Research Dec 19, 2025 Commissioned by Input Output Group L1 tokens broadly underperformed in 2025 despite a backdrop of regulatory and institutional wins. Explore the key trends defining ten major blockchains below. What to know : 2025 was defined by a stark divergence: structural progress collided with stagnant price action. Institutional milestones were reached and TVL increased across most major ecosystems, yet the majority of large-cap Layer-1 tokens finished the year with negative or flat returns. This report analyzes the structural decoupling between network usage and token performance. We examine 10 major blockchain ecosystems, exploring protocol versus application revenues, key ecosystem narratives, mechanics driving institutional adoption, and the trends to watch as we head into 2026. View Full Report More For You Crypto prices again muted as gold surges to new record, U.S. stocks advance By Stephen Alpher , Krisztian Sandor | Edited by Stephen Alpher 3 hours ago Bitcoin for the moment was unable to hold the $90,000 level reached prior to the U.S. market open. What to know : Crypto prices are slipping a little during the U.S. trading session as precious metals and stocks move higher. The AI trade remains strong, with bitcoin miners who have pivoted business models moving sharply higher. Both gold and silver hit new records Monday and one analyst said bitcoin can't rally until those metals cool. 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