Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 3, 9:54 AM ET

ETHU max pain

Spot (delayed)$21.38
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:54 AM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$25
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:54 AM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-12-04 expiration, over 23 strikes carrying 462 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+16.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.93
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:54 AM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-12-04 expiration = 4.93 USD, 23.0% of 21.38 spot.
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±23.0% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI0.67
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:54 AM ET
How185 put contracts / 277 call contracts = 0.67 for the 2026-12-04 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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185 puts / 277 calls
Call wall$30
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:54 AM ET
How30.00 for the 2026-12-04 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest call OI
Put wall$19
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:54 AM ET
How19.00 for the 2026-12-04 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3099.9%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:54 AM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:54 AM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2026-12-04 expiration: (call gamma × call OI minus put gamma × put OI) × 100 × spot² × 1%, summed. Calls count as positive and puts as negative, a convention about who holds the other side, not a measurement.
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per 1% move · flip ≈ $30

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

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 6$26+21.6%3d
Fri, Nov 13$26+21.6%10d
Fri, Nov 20$25+16.9%17d
Fri, Nov 27$26.5+23.9%24d
Fri, Dec 4$25+16.9%31d
Fri, Dec 11too thin38d
Fri, Dec 18$19-11.1%45d
Fri, Jan 15$25+16.9%73d
Fri, Mar 19$17-20.5%136d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25172124283135$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 — 25 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot25172123.5262830100100
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ETHU open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.

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 4

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot172124283135120%97%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 98.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spotflip 30172123.5262830+$2K−$2K
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 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.81-0.03170.03870.02-0.03-0.20
0.76-0.03180.04560.02-0.03-0.24
0.71-0.04190.05220.02-0.04-0.29
0.65-0.04200.05780.02-0.04-0.35
0.58-0.04210.06180.02-0.04-0.41
0.55-0.0421.50.06300.03-0.04-0.45
0.49-0.0422.50.06390.03-0.04-0.51
0.46-0.04230.06360.03-0.04-0.54
0.43-0.0423.50.06290.03-0.04-0.57
0.41-0.04240.06180.02-0.04-0.60
0.35-0.04250.05880.02-0.04-0.65
0.33-0.0425.50.05700.02-0.04-0.67
0.31-0.04260.05510.02-0.04-0.69

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 23 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot152024.52933.5404770
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

spot51826.539801504K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 52K call contracts, 28K 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.

Max pain, walls and gamma print only when an expiration holds at least 100 open contracts across 5 strikes, and max pain also needs to stay within 5% of spot when its single heaviest strike is removed. Below that the expiration reads as thin rather than printing a level one trade could move.

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