Crypto options:
are you buying or selling?
Options sound complicated, but the core is simple: the buyer pays a small amount for a right, the seller takes that money and an obligation. Buyers can lose at most what they paid; sellers can lose much more. Get that and you are halfway there.
What is an option?
An option is a contract that gives you the right to buy or sell a set amount at a set price (the strike) on the expiry date. You pay for that right upfront; the price is the premium.
| Term | Meaning | On OKX |
|---|---|---|
| Call | Right to buy at the strike | Bought when you expect a rise |
| Put | Right to sell at the strike | Bought for a fall, or to insure holdings |
| Strike | The agreed price | Listed from low to high |
| Premium | What the option costs | Paid by buyers, received by sellers |
| Expiry | When it settles | Daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly |
OKX BTC and ETH options are European-style: they settle only at expiry, but you can sell them any time before. One BTC contract is 0.01 BTC; one ETH contract is 0.1 ETH.
How calls and puts work
Example 1: buy a call to bet on a rise
BTC is at $84,000. You pay 1,500 USDT for a one-month $90,000 call covering 1 BTC. At expiry:
- BTC at $100,000: the right is worth $10,000, so you make about 8,500 USDT after the premium.
- BTC at $88,000: the option expires worthless and you lose the 1,500 USDT, and not a cent more.
Example 2: buy a put as insurance
You hold 1 BTC and worry about next month. You pay 1,200 USDT for a $78,000 put. If BTC falls to $65,000 the put is worth $13,000 and offsets most of the drop. If not, you paid 1,200 USDT for peace of mind.
Buying options works like buying insurance: most of the time the premium is 'wasted', and it pays only in big moves. Buying short-dated options every week to bet on direction usually bleeds the premium away.
How much can you lose on options?
| Buyer | Seller | |
|---|---|---|
| At the start | Pays the premium | Receives the premium |
| Maximum gain | Uncapped for calls | The premium received |
| Maximum loss | The premium | Can far exceed the premium |
| Margin needed | No | Yes, and can be liquidated |
| How it feels | Often small losses, sometimes big wins | Often small wins, sometimes big losses |
Collecting premium feels good until one big move takes back months of income. Beginners should not sell naked options. Dual Investment is a packaged form of option selling where the risk is limited to conversion, which makes it a gentler start.
Options vs futures: what is the difference?
| Options (buyer) | Perpetual futures | |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum loss | The premium | Your margin, if liquidated |
| Liquidation | No | Yes |
| Time | Value decays toward expiry | No expiry, funding every ~8 hours |
| Good for | Defined-risk bets, hedging | Long or short trading, hedging, arbitrage |
Put simply: option buyers pay with time and premium; futures traders pay with margin.
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What are USDT-margined options?
OKX has coin-margined options, where premiums and settlement are in BTC or ETH, and USDT-margined (linear) options, where everything is in USDT. Linear options are easier for beginners: you can trade with only USDT, and profit and loss read directly in dollars.
What are expiry days and max pain?
OKX options usually settle at 08:00 UTC on the expiry date. Month-end and quarter-end expiries are the largest, and markets are often jumpy around them.
Max pain is the price at which option buyers as a group would lose the most. Some traders think price gets pulled toward it before expiry; treat that as a talking point, not a rule. On 25 September 2026, about $15.9 billion in BTC options expired with max pain near $75,000 while BTC traded around $83,500 (FinanceFeeds).
Crypto options
FAQ.
01What is a crypto option?
The right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a crypto asset at a set price on a set date. Buyers pay a premium; sellers receive it and take on the obligation.
02How much can you lose buying options?
At most the premium you paid. Option buyers cannot be liquidated and cannot owe more.
03How much can you lose selling options?
Potentially much more than the premium received. Sellers post margin and can be liquidated if the market moves against them.
04Are options riskier than futures?
Option buyers have a capped loss, while leveraged futures can be liquidated. But time decay means repeatedly buying short-dated options can also lose everything you spend.
05Can OKX options be exercised early?
No. OKX BTC and ETH options are European-style and settle at expiry, but you can close them any time before.
06How big is one OKX bitcoin option contract?
One BTC option contract is 0.01 BTC and one ETH option contract is 0.1 ETH.
Finished this one?
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