You can close out (trade out) of a position anytime before expiration. Options expire at 4pm ET on the expiration date.
Buy to close a short position: You can close a short position by buying the number of contracts that you are short.
Sell to close a long position: You can close a long position by selling the number of contracts that you are long.
Buy to Close a Short Position
Close a short position by buying the number of contracts that you are short. The Position Locked collateral for the short position will be unlocked when you close the position.
- Click on My Positions in the main dashboard (to the right of Open Orders)
- Click the position you want to close
- Click Buy to Close to launch the order form
- Enter the price you want to pay. The Contracts field is populated with the number of contracts you are short.
- Review your buy order. You will see the Total Premium, or the amount you need to pay to buy this option.
- Confirm your order
When your trade executes, your position will be 0 and the position locked collateral for this short position will be unlocked.
Example: You are short -1 2020 06-26 Put $25,000. When you sold this contract last month, you received $170 in premium and position locked $250 (the deliverable at expiration). As expiration approaches, you decide you want to close the position.- When buying the contract, enter the BTC mini quantity (1 in this example) and the limit price. You will see the Total Premium Paid, or the amount you need to pay to buy this option.
- When your trade executes, your position will be 0 and the $250 position locked collateral for this short put will be unlocked.
Sell to Close a Long Position
Close a long position by selling the number of contracts that you are long. You are not required to post short collateral when selling to close a position.
- Click on Positions in the main dashboard (to the right of Open Orders)
- Click the position you want to close
- Click Sell to Close to launch the order form
- Enter the price you want to receive. The Contracts field is populated with the number of contracts you are long.
- Review your sell order. You will see the Total Premium, or the amount you will receive for selling this option.
- Confirm your order
- When your trade executes, your position will be 0. You can view in Open Orders until it gets filled.
Example: You are long +1 2020 06-26 Put $25,000. When you bought this contract last month, you paid $170 in premium. As expiration approaches, you decide you want to close the position.
When selling the contract, enter the BTC mini quantity (1 in this example) and the limit price. You will see the Total Premium Received, or the amount you will receive for selling this option. The Total Locked is an indication of the position locked collateral. However, you are not required to post short collateral when selling to close a position.
When your trade executes, your position will be 0 and you will receive the USD premium from selling the option.