Ethereum max pain, free.
Ethereum max pain is free on Basis for every listed ETH options expiry, with no account and no trial. It is computed from open interest across Deribit, OKX, Bybit and Binance and shown with the strikes that produce it, the put/call ratio and the expiry’s forward, so the number never stands alone.
What you get
- Max pain for every listed Ethereum expiry, the short-dated ones and the quarterlies alike, recomputed on every thirty-second refresh as open interest changes
- Open interest by strike for the chosen expiry, calls above and puts below, with max pain and the ETH index marked on the same chart
- The put/call open interest ratio and the expiry’s forward price beside the max pain figure
- Open interest by expiry across the whole ETH curve, so the dates that carry real size stand out from the ones that do not
- ETH DVOL against realised volatility, and each expiry’s implied one-standard-deviation move in the expiry risk map
- All four venues summed, or any single venue on its own
Why this is usually paid for
Ethereum max pain usually reaches people as a single number in an expiry-day post, read from one venue at one moment. Open interest keeps changing until settlement, and ETH options are spread across four venues that each quote them in their own units, so a figure from one venue at one time can sit a long way from what the whole market holds.
Basis converts every venue’s contracts into ETH, sums open interest strike by strike and computes max pain the standard way: for each strike as a candidate settlement price, the payout every call and put would make is added up, and the strike with the smallest total is the answer. Ties go to the lower strike, so the result does not depend on the order the data arrived in.
How to use it
- 1
Open Options on Ethereum
The button below opens the options workspace already on ETH. Pick an expiry chip: max pain, the put/call ratio and the forward appear above the open interest by strike chart, with max pain marked on the chart itself.
- 2
Weigh the expiry before the number
Max pain on a thin daily expiry is trivia; on a month-end or quarterly expiry that holds a large share of ETH open interest it is worth a look. The expiry chips show each date’s open interest in dollars, and the expiry risk map shows its share of the total.
- 3
Set it against the forward and the implied range
A max pain far outside the implied one-standard-deviation move for that date is unlikely to matter by settlement. One close to the forward on a heavy expiry is where hedging and pinning pressure get discussed in the days before it.
- 4
Read the strikes around it
Max pain between two walls of open interest is a different situation from max pain beside one dominant strike. The chart shows which one you are looking at; the number on its own cannot.
Questions
Is Ethereum max pain free on Basis?+
Yes. Max pain for every listed Ethereum options expiry is free, with no account, no trial and no limit on which dates you can open. The open interest by strike behind it is shown on the same chart, so the figure can always be checked against the positions that produced it.
Is ETH max pain a price target?+
No. Nothing forces Ethereum to settle at max pain. Around heavy expiries price sometimes finishes near it, partly because large open interest near spot shapes how dealers hedge, but it misses often and by a wide margin. Treat it as a description of where open interest sits, not a forecast.
When do Ethereum options expire?+
Deribit, OKX, Bybit and Binance settle their ETH options at 08:00 UTC on the expiry date. Short-dated, weekly, monthly and quarterly expiries are listed side by side, and the month-end and quarterly dates usually carry the most open interest, which is where max pain is most worth watching.
Why does ETH max pain differ between websites?+
Because it depends on which venues are counted and when the snapshot was taken. Basis sums Deribit, OKX, Bybit and Binance or shows any one of them, using every listed strike with open interest. A site that reads a single venue, or an older snapshot, can land on a different strike from the same market.
What does Basis Founders add for Ethereum options?+
Optional extras around the free data: a levels map that draws ETH’s call wall, put wall, gamma flip and max pain onto your chart beside the largest whale positions, and 120 days of options and derivatives history. Max pain itself, and everything listed above, stays free.
Open it and see
The terminal opens on the options workspace. Nothing to configure, nothing to sign up for.
Open the chartOr ask your AI, on live data
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Updated 2026-10-23 · All free tools · AI guides · Indicator reference · Documentation · Terminal