# Settlement Options expire at **08:00 UTC** on their listed expiry date. Expiry is not limited to Friday. Please note that **settlement is not always instantaneous**. After expiry, positions may take up to **\~2 hours** to fully settle before they are reflected in the protocol and become available for withdrawal. This extended settlement window can occur during periods of high volume, when the protocol requires additional time to process all exercised and expiring positions accurately and ensure proper finalization. Additionally, **Hypersurface may exercise in-the-money (ITM) options up to \~24 hours before expiry** if it is optimal for the protocol. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.hypersurface.io/overview/settlement.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.