Tools — Max Pain Calculator (BTC/ETH)

Max Pain Calculator (BTC/ETH)

Live options open interest from Deribit for Bitcoin and Ethereum — pick an expiry to see the max pain price, the strike where option holders collectively stand to lose the most at settlement.

Asset

Expiry

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Strike	Call OI	Put OI	Pain ($)

Results

Max Pain Price —

Current Underlying Price —

Distance to Max Pain —

Total Call Open Interest —

Total Put Open Interest —

Days to Expiry —

Max pain is the strike price at which total open-interest-weighted payout to option holders is lowest at expiry — evaluated only at listed strikes, the standard convention. It's a positioning signal, not a prediction: some traders watch it because price can drift toward it near expiry as market makers hedge, but large directional moves regularly overshoot it entirely.

How max pain is calculated

For a given expiry, every strike that currently has open call or put interest is a candidate settlement price. At each candidate, this calculator sums the dollar value option holders would collect if the underlying settled exactly there: in-the-money calls pay (settlement − strike) × open interest, in-the-money puts pay (strike − settlement) × open interest. The strike where that total is smallest — where option buyers as a group would collect the least, hence "max pain" for buyers — is the max pain price. It reflects only open interest positioning, not a forecast of where price is headed; large directional trends can and do blow straight through it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does price actually move toward the max pain strike?

Sometimes, especially in the final hours before a large expiry when market makers hedge delta on a big book, but it is not a rule. Max pain reflects current open interest, not order flow, news, or momentum — in a strong trend the underlying regularly settles far away from the max pain strike.

Why does max pain change throughout the day?

Open interest at each strike shifts continuously as traders open and close positions, so the strike with the lowest aggregate payout can move. This calculator refreshes from live Deribit data every 60 seconds.

Why use Deribit specifically for max pain?

Deribit has historically carried the large majority of BTC and ETH options open interest, making its order book the closest thing to a complete picture of positioning for either asset. A max pain reading from an exchange with thin option volume would mostly reflect noise.

Max Pain Calculator (BTC/ETH)

Results

How max pain is calculated

Frequently Asked Questions

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