How Ethereum’s September options gamma squeeze impacts Deribit

The Ethereum options market holds 756,100 ETH in open interest with a total notional value of $1.92 billion. On the September 15 session, ETH price reached $2,510, while the highest call open interest remains at the $3,000 strike with 43,000 contracts. Aggressive call buying at these strikes forces market makers to buy the underlying asset to hedge their delta exposure. This mechanical hedging drives prices higher, which increases delta and necessitates even more buying from dealers. This feedback loop constitutes a gamma squeeze. Such a rally depends on options market positioning rather than fundamental narratives. The August turnover for Ethereum options on Deribit hit $7.14 billion. The market enters this period with a put-to-call ratio of 0.57. Gamma is the rate at which delta changes per $1 move in the asset. The delta of an option measures how much its value changes for every $1 move in the asset. As the price climbs toward the $3,000 strike, market makers must buy more ETH to maintain delta-neutral positions, which creates a feedback loop that pushes prices higher regardless of any fundamental news or economic data. For 10,000 contracts with a 0.30 delta, market makers must buy 300,000 shares to hedge.

Deribit dominance and expiry profiles

Deribit maintains 85% market share among crypto-native exchanges. While BlackRock’s IBIT ETF options reached $27.6 billion in open interest by April 2026, Deribit still processes the majority of crypto-native volume. The Ethereum put-to-call ratio is 0.57, which means call contracts outnumber puts by nearly two to one. The max pain level for the September 25 settlement is $2,200. You already know that max pain reflects where the most options expire worthless, so watch the $2,510 spot price relative to that level. The current expiry is larger than the Q2 expiry, which saw $1.6 billion in Ethereum options. Bitcoin also faces a September 25 expiry with $14.73 billion in notional value. Bitcoin max pain is between $72,000 and $75,000, while the price was $78,000 on September 15. Bitcoin concentration also exists at the $70,000, $85,000, $90,000, and $100,000 strikes. The Bitcoin put-to-call ratio is 0.52, meaning more calls are written than puts.

The ETH/BTC ratio was 0.0272 as of June 2. Previous ETH monthly closes included a May 2026 print of $1,983. Technical resistance for ETH is $2,100, with the $2,300 range as the next stop. The June 27 expiry on Deribit showed the largest concentration of open interest at the $2,800 call strike, while the $1,800 put strike accumulated volume in the weeks before.

The inevitable unwind

The gamma squeeze ends when call premiums become too expensive or buying volume slows. When the squeeze exhausts, dealer flows flip from buying to selling their hedges. This reversal causes volatility to collapse and prices to drop. A trader who buys calls at peak implied volatility faces a double loss when the price reverses and volatility crashes. This mechanism is similar to the GameStop move in January 2021, though GameStop also involved high short interest. Traders also watched the AMC squeeze in mid-2021 where heavy call buying created surge events. The $1,950 zone defines if the recent ETH floor holds, especially since the $1,980 to $2,050 band saw the heaviest spot accumulation over the past 30 sessions. Resistance remains at $2,100. A break below $1,950 on a daily close would open the door to a retest of the $1,520 capitulation low seen in November 2025. Will the $3,000 strike concentration hold through the September 25 settlement?