Glossary · crypto options in plain English
The concepts that move BTC and ETH under the surface — a plain-English glossary of crypto options, and wherever we can, every term backed by our own measured data. No recycled myths: when something only half-works, we say so. Each term links to our live boards.
This glossary is for anyone trading spot or futures who finally wants to understand what a max pain board, a whale liquidation heatmap or the DVOL index actually shows — crypto options in plain English, no heavy math. Every entry follows the same format: the essence in two sentences first, then how traders use it, and where it usually lies to you.
Our principle: plain English + verified on our own data. We don't retell other people's textbooks — where a term can be measured, we measured it on our own Deribit and Hyperliquid archive. That is why max pain comes with an honest hit rate instead of a promise, and why our liquidation map is built from real on-chain whale positions rather than modeled from open interest.
We don't give signals — we give context. Terms without a page of their own yet are marked «soon». Start with max pain and the market-maker corridor: our entire daily analysis is built around those two levels. And if you want the mood of the market first, the Fear & Greed board is the fastest door in.
The price where the most options expire worthless. Magnet or myth? Measured on 260 expiries.
LiveOur flagship level: the market-maker breakeven zone that holds 81% of settlements.
LiveOpen interest, call walls and put walls: where price runs into friction.
LiveThe line below which market makers stop dampening moves and start amplifying them.
LiveHow many puts per call — and why a high PCR does not automatically mean «down».
LiveHow big money enters options quietly — and how we spot it anyway.
«Bitcoin's VIX»: how much movement the market prices in. Divide by ~19 for the daily move.
LiveWhat the market expects from price movement — and when options are expensive.
LiveRich or cheap — against its own one-year history. A raw IV number is mute without rank.
LiveWhy option sellers get paid — and the trap hiding inside that premium.
LiveWhy far-out options cost more — and what a lifted left wing is telling you.
LiveThe price of downside fear versus the upside bet. A sentiment thermometer in prices.
LiveContango and inversion: when the market pays up for risk right now.
LiveDelta, gamma, theta, vega — your position's instrument panel, in plain English.
How to read the big players on-chain — and why copy-trading them is ruinous.
LiveWhere the leverage blows up. Ours is measured from the chain, not modeled.
LiveThe fee between longs and shorts as a sentiment thermometer.
We teach reading the market the way this glossary does: plain English, real data, honest «doesn't work» verdicts. Join the first-cohort waitlist — the earliest terms are the best.
📚 Join the course waitlist →INDICIA DESK · Crypto options market intelligence (BTC / ETH).
A system decision journal, not investment advice.