Deribit’s December 2026 quarterly Bitcoin options cycle ends at 08:00 UTC on Dec. 25 (3 a.m. ET).
Deribit’s calendar policy puts quarterly options expiries on the final Friday of each quarter, placing this cycle on Dec. 25. The settlement value uses the relevant index’s 30-minute TWAP across 07:30–08:00 UTC (2:30–3 a.m. ET), with the window ending at expiry.
Deribit describes its options as cash-settled, meaning the options themselves do not transfer Bitcoin as the underlying asset. A separate procedure covers inverse options expiring on or after Aug. 1, 2026. When an inverse option is in the money, Deribit physically settles it into a matching inverse futures contract at the option’s strike price. That first step creates a futures position rather than transferring BTC directly. The futures contract then cash-settles in its base currency, which is BTC for Bitcoin contracts.
Traders with an offsetting position in the matching future may pay lower delivery fees under this process, Deribit says. Fees are unchanged for other traders.
EconoTimes previously covered the exchange’s monthly options calendar in its October expiry report, which described a separate monthly deadline and the final-half-hour index average. The next quarterly expiry under the exchange’s schedule is Dec. 25, 2026.
