Bitcoin’s choices market has a brand new obsession: Christmas week. In a submit Thursday, energy-sector managing companion David Eng argued the following eight days (December 19 by way of December 26) might outline the near-term cycle for BTC, not due to a macro headline or some sudden ETF stampede, however as a result of a big chunk of vendor gamma publicity is scheduled to roll off the board in two photographs.
At press time, bitcoin traded round $86,928, after swinging between roughly $84,461 and $89,230 intraday. Eng’s framing is blunt and really “choices individuals”: the market is being mechanically pinned, and the pin has an expiry date
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“The narrative isn’t nearly tomorrow. We’re staring down the barrel of a ‘Double-Barreled’ Liquidity Occasion that can wipe 67% of the whole derivatives board clear by December twenty sixth,” Eng wrote. “Bitcoin is buying and selling at $88,752, deep within the -25% Worth Zone (Pattern Worth: $118k). The spring is coiled, however two large structural weights are holding the lid down.”
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These “weights,” in his telling, are two expiries with significant gamma connected: roughly $128 million tied to Dec. 19 (21% of the overall he tracks) and one other $287 million at Dec. 26, which he calls the “boss stage” ceiling. He labels the mixed $415 million a coming “Gamma Flush,” arguing that after it clears, the hedging drag that’s been compressing spot value motion ought to ease.
The sensible level is much less mystical than it sounds. If sellers are sitting on significant gamma round a good cluster of strikes, their delta-hedging can dampen volatility and preserve spot gravitating round sure ranges till that publicity decays or expires — the form of “why does this tape really feel glued?” frustration merchants know too properly.
Eng’s map is constructed round very particular strains within the sand: $85k–$90k because the “mud” zone the place hedging strain retains snapping value again, and $90,616 because the flip stage he’s watching across the Dec. 19 expiry.
“Stage 1: The Spark (Tomorrow, Dec 19) — $128 Million in Gamma expires tomorrow (21% of whole). That is the ‘Appetizer.’ It removes the instant suppression pinning us beneath $90k,” he wrote. “Watch the $90,616 flip stage. If we clear this, the intraday shackles fall off.”
However Eng is clearly extra centered on the week after. “Stage 2: The Floodgate (Subsequent Friday, Dec 26) — $287 Million in Gamma expires subsequent week,” he continued. “A staggering 46.2% of all vendor gamma publicity sits on this single date… Sellers have a quarter-billion-dollar incentive to maintain volatility crushed and value pinned close to $85k-$90k by way of Christmas to reap this premium.”
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The declare, mainly: pre-Dec. 26 is “thick mud,” post-Dec. 26 is the tape instantly respiration once more. “If you mix these two dates, $415,000,000 of gamma — two-thirds of the whole market construction — evaporates within the subsequent 8 days,” Eng wrote. “Earlier than Dec 26: The market is combating by way of thick mud… After Dec 26: The mud dries up. The suppression mechanism is gone. The Energy Regulation gravity ($118k) takes over with out the vendor counter-flow.”
He additionally tossed out a provocative ratio that’s been circulating in derivatives circles all yr: vendor mechanics versus ETF demand. “Vendor Gamma forces are at present ~13x stronger than ETF Flows,” he wrote. “Vendor ~$507.6M, ETF ~$38M. This is the reason the market is obeying the technical gamma ranges ($85k/$90k) and ignoring the ETF quantity.”
Vendor Gamma forces are at present ~13x stronger than ETF Flows
Vendor ~$507.6METF ~$38M
This is the reason the market is obeying the technical gamma ranges ($85k/$90k) and ignoring the ETF quantity.
— David 🇺🇸 (@david_eng_mba) December 18, 2025
And when critics within the replies questioned whether or not “$287M” is even significant, Eng clarified what the determine is — and what it isn’t. “The $287M determine refers to vendor gamma publicity (GEX), not whole choices dimension,” he wrote. “GEX measures how a lot spot Bitcoin sellers may have to purchase or promote to remain delta-neutral as value strikes. It displays hedging strain, not notional worth.”
So the tradeable implication of Eng’s thesis is easy: count on the pinning video games into Christmas, then watch whether or not a post-expiry regime shift really exhibits up in realized volatility — and in value’s skill to cease bouncing off the identical ranges prefer it’s hitting invisible glass.
At press time, Bitcoin traded at $87,953.
Featured picture created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
