Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC) is likely to be more volatile than usual on March 20 as the largest cryptocurrency faces a “quadruple witching” event. 

The quadruple witching occurs on the third Friday of March, June, September, and December each year. 

In the event, trillions-of-dollars worth of contracts expire across four major types of derivatives: stock index futures, stock index options, single-stock options, and single-stock futures.

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The quadruple witching happens because Wall Street traders must close, roll over, or settle their positions simultaneously, leading to a surge in trading activity and violent price swings.

Derivatives in the stock market are financial contracts whose value is derived from an underlying asset such as a stock, commodity, or cryptocurrency. 

Derivative contracts are used for hedging risk, increasing buying power, and speculating on future price movements without owning the actual asset. Common types of derivatives include options, futures, and swaps contracts.

Exact figures for the March 20 expiry this year haven’t been published. But in March 2025, $4.7 trillion U.S. worth of derivatives expired during the event. 

According to TradeStation, the March 2025 quadruple witching event saw the highest S&P 500 trading volume of the year. And that includes President Trump’s tariff announcement. 

Large expiries usually force institutional investors to rebalance their portfolios, unwind hedges, and adjust risk exposure within a very short window.

While quadruple witching originates in traditional finance and with stocks, it also spills over into the crypto market. 

Bitcoin increasingly trades alongside risk assets such as stocks, meaning sharp moves in equities often impact the price of BTC.

In 2025, Bitcoin declined between 1% and 2% on the day of each quadruple witching event. However, its price fell further in the days and weeks immediately after each witching occurrence.

BTC is currently trading at $70,200 U.S.