Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 16, 9:17 PM ET

ETHB max pain

Spot (delayed)$31
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$30-3.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.8±15.5% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.6383 puts / 131 calls
Call wall$40largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3042.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$47per 1% move · flip ≈ $20

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 · FOMC decision Wed, Dec 9 · CPI release Thu, Dec 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$32+3.2%25d
Fri, Dec 18$30-3.2%53d
Fri, Mar 19$25-19.4%144d
Thu, Jun 17$40+29.0%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot30152127333945$1M$0
■ put-side pain■ call-side painTotal payout option writers would owe at each settle price (both sides, all open interest, ×100 shares) — low settles hurt put writers, high settles hurt call writers. The minimum — 30 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot301523273135405353
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ETHB open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

Open-interest change: building vs unwinding

Needs two observed snapshot days for this expiration; the comparison appears automatically once the next weekday snapshot lands. We diff real observations only; nothing is estimated.

Volume by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot3015232731354011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot152127333945145%45%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 46.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 20152428323745+$3K−$3K
Net dealer gamma per strike, in dollars per 1% move, assuming the standard convention (dealers long calls, short puts) — an assumption, not an observation. Above the amber flip level hedging tends to dampen moves; below it, to amplify them.

Greeks by strike · Fri, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.84-0.02240.02500.03-0.02-0.16
0.82-0.02250.02930.03-0.02-0.18
0.80-0.02260.03450.04-0.02-0.20
0.77-0.02270.04060.04-0.02-0.24
0.73-0.02280.04780.04-0.02-0.28
0.68-0.02290.05590.05-0.02-0.32
0.62-0.02300.06390.05-0.02-0.38
0.55-0.02310.06990.05-0.02-0.45
0.48-0.02320.07170.05-0.02-0.52
0.42-0.02330.06900.05-0.02-0.59
0.36-0.02340.06370.05-0.02-0.65
0.32-0.02350.05770.05-0.02-0.69
0.26-0.02370.04680.04-0.02-0.75
0.24-0.02380.04240.04-0.02-0.77
0.22-0.02390.03870.04-0.02-0.79

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 22 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot152429343950400
Call open interest per strike, stacked across the checked expirations — each color is one expiry. Strikes are pruned to the liquid center of each chain.

All expirations combined — total open interest

spot142026323844151151
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 236 call contracts, 260 put contracts open.

Reading this honestly

Max pain is arithmetic, not prophecy: the settle price that would minimize what option writers pay out at expiration, computed from open interest alone. Prices sometimes gravitate toward heavy strikes into expiry — dealer hedging is a real flow — but the evidence that max pain predicts settlement better than chance is mixed, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Use it as a map of where positioning is stacked, next to the fundamentals and the earnings calendar, not as a target.

Data: Cboe delayed public feed (~15 minutes), refreshed here about every 15 minutes. Open interest itself updates once daily, before the open. Educational information, not investment advice.

Keep going: ETHB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk