Analytics · Options
Options Max Pain, explained
The price at which the most options would expire worthless, worked out for every upcoming expiry and shown next to the money riding on it. What max pain is, how it is calculated, how to read the chart, and what a debated idea about price drifting toward it can and cannot tell you.
- Measures
- Max pain per expiry
- Coins
- BTC · ETH
- Exchanges
- 4
- Source
- CoinGlass
one price for every upcoming expiry date
one at a time
Deribit, OKX, Binance and Bybit, one at a time
a live snapshot, not a history
What is max pain?
Options expire on fixed dates. On each one, every call and put either pays out or expires worthless, depending on where the price settles. Max pain is the settlement price at which the fewest options pay out: the point where option holders as a group are owed the least.
It is worked out separately for every upcoming expiry, so the chart shows one max pain price for each date.
How it is worked out
For one expiry, take every open call and put at every strike. For each possible settlement price, add up what all of those contracts would be worth to the people holding them. Calls become valuable as price rises above their strike, and puts as it falls below theirs, so the total is high at both ends and dips in the middle. The bottom of that dip is the max pain price.
The figures come from CoinGlass, which does the calculation from the options open on each exchange. Weighting is by contract value, so a large position at one strike counts for more than a small one.
What the chart shows
A line plots the max pain price for each upcoming expiry, on the left axis. Bars show the combined dollar value of the calls and puts open on that expiry, on the right axis.
You pick Bitcoin or Ethereum and one of four exchanges: Deribit, OKX, Binance or Bybit. Four boxes above the chart summarise the nearest expiry, the total value across expiries, the ratio of puts to calls and the number of expiries tracked.
Why one exchange at a time
The data source reports max pain for each exchange separately and does not offer a combined figure. Averaging them would be misleading, because one venue holds most of the open options and the others much less. The chart therefore starts on Deribit, the largest, and lets you switch.
How to read it
Read the line and the bars together. A max pain price on a tall bar is on an expiry with a lot of money behind it. One on a short bar says much less.
Compare it with the current price. Where the max pain price for a large, near expiry sits well above or below where price is trading, there is a gap between the two. Some traders watch that gap because of the debated idea that price drifts toward max pain close to expiry. It is context for the expiry date, not a forecast.
Expect it to move. Open interest changes every day, so the line for an expiry today may not match the line tomorrow.
What the chart does not tell you
A single clean price for each expiry feels precise, which is when it is easiest to over-read. Five things to keep in view.
The pull toward it is a debated idea
Some traders believe price tends to drift toward max pain as expiry approaches. The evidence is mixed, and the effect, where it shows, is small next to the other forces moving price. Treat it as background context, not a rule.
It is one exchange at a time
Each figure covers a single options venue. There is no combined view, because the data source only reports max pain per exchange. Deribit holds the largest share of options, which is why it is the default, but a different venue can show a different number for the same date.
It is a snapshot that keeps moving
Max pain is worked out from the options open right now. As positions are opened and closed, the price for each expiry can shift, sometimes a lot. The chart shows upcoming expiries only and keeps no history.
It counts open interest, not intent
The calculation adds up contracts at each strike. It cannot see who holds them, whether they are hedged against something else, or whether they will be closed before expiry.
Big expiries matter more than small ones
A max pain price on an expiry with very little money behind it says little. The bars show the dollar value on each expiry, so read the line and the bars together.
Max pain shows where options would pay out least. It cannot show that price will go there.
Where it fits
This is a derivatives context chart in the Analytics section, alongside the open interest, funding and liquidation charts. It is a live snapshot of upcoming expiries rather than a history, it covers one exchange at a time, and it is not an input to either Heatmeter. It is most useful next to the slower charts, to see where the options market is concentrated around the dates that matter.
Common questions
What is the Options Max Pain chart?
A chart of the max pain price for every upcoming options expiry on one exchange (the line), next to the combined value of the calls and puts open on that expiry (the bars). You choose the coin, Bitcoin or Ethereum, and the exchange: Deribit, OKX, Binance or Bybit. It describes where options would pay out least, not where price will go, and it does not feed either Heatmeter.
What is max pain?
The strike price at which the largest number of options, calls and puts together, would expire worthless. Expressed the other way, it is the settlement price at which option holders as a group would be owed the least. It is worked out separately for each expiry date.
How is it calculated?
For each expiry, take every open call and put at every strike. For each possible settlement price, add up what all of those contracts would be worth to their holders. The settlement price with the smallest total is the max pain price. The figures here come from CoinGlass, which does the calculation from the open interest on each exchange.
Does price move toward max pain?
It is a debated idea, not an established rule. The reasoning is that the people selling options, often market makers, hedge in ways that can nudge price toward the level where they owe least. Observations are mixed and the effect, if present, is usually limited to the last day or two before a large expiry.
What do the bars show?
The dollar value of all calls and puts open on that expiry. A tall bar means a lot of money rides on that date, so its max pain price is worth more attention than one with a short bar.
Why can I not see all exchanges combined?
The data source reports max pain for each exchange separately and does not offer a combined figure. Averaging them would hide the fact that one venue holds most of the open options, so the chart shows one exchange at a time, starting with Deribit.
Is this a buy or sell signal?
No. It describes where options would pay out least on each upcoming expiry. Patterns between max pain and price have shown up before, but they are historical observations and not a guide to what happens next.
Related guides
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- Liquidity FlowWhich part of the crypto market is winning share and which is losing it, on a monthly and a daily view.
- Liquidation HeatmapEstimated price levels where leveraged futures would be force-closed, from CoinGlass price and open interest.
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- Altcoin Strength IndexA weekly 0–100 score for altcoins against Bitcoin, where 0 means historically cheap and 100 historically expensive.
- Altseason Fair Value BandThe altcoin market measured against Bitcoin, held against its long-run average, with the lines where the 2018 and 2021 altseasons peaked and the 2020 altwinter bottomed and the 2026 one came close.
Every indicator we track — the full glossary.
Open the chart
Everything above is the method. On the chart you can switch between Bitcoin and Ethereum and between four exchanges, read the max pain line against the value on each expiry, and turn the tooltip and each series on or off.