The Friday 08:00 UTC Effect: How Charm Moves Bitcoin
Deribit settles weekly, monthly, and quarterly options contracts every Friday at 08:00 UTC. In the 24 to 48 hours leading up to this settlement cutoff, options Charm accelerates exponentially.As time to expiration ($t$) shrinks toward zero, out-of-the-money (OTM) options deltas rapidly collapse toward 0.0, while in-the-money (ITM) options deltas rapidly approach 1.0. Institutional dealers who previously held perpetual hedges against these fading deltas must aggressively unwind their positions in the open market.Traders who monitor Charm can forecast whether dealer unwinds will inject hundreds of millions in net buying or net selling pressure into Friday morning European trading hours. Learn more in our [Master Guide to Crypto Options Greeks](/learn/crypto-options-greeks-gex-guide).
Comprehensive Cluster Guide
Read Master Guide The Master Guide to Crypto Options Greeks & GEX+ Positioning
Master crypto options Greeks: Gamma Exposure (GEX+), Vanna, and Charm. Learn how Deribit institutional dealer hedging dictates Bitcoin volatility and intraday price boundaries.
Institutional Tooling
Inspect Options Expiry Flows
Analyze upcoming Friday options expiry open interest and strike concentration.
Inspect Options Expiry FlowsFrequently Asked Questions
Why does maximum pain price often correlate with options Charm?
Max pain represents the strike price where the greatest dollar value of options expire worthless. Charm acceleration naturally pulls market price toward max pain as dealers unwind hedges on decaying OTM contracts.