- Bitcoin (BTC) held steady above $107,500 ahead of a major options expiry on Friday.
- Thirty-eight percent of Deribit’s $40 billion in BTC options open interest will expire, with a “max pain” price calculated at $102,000.
- Bitcoin’s implied volatility has eased from 50% in April to about 38%, reflecting increased market confidence.
Bitcoin traded in a tight range during U.S. hours on Thursday, remaining above the $107,000 level as traders positioned for a large quarterly options expiry set for Friday. Despite slight weakness across the broader crypto market, Bitcoin’s relative stability masked the tension created by the sizeable volume of derivatives contracts approaching expiration.
The largest cryptocurrency was changing hands near $107,500, down only about 0.2% over the past 24 hours. By comparison, the CoinDesk 20 index—which tracks the top 20 digital assets excluding stablecoins, exchange tokens, and certain memecoins—fell roughly 0.9% in the same period, signaling softer performance among many altcoins.
Market participants were focused on Friday’s options expiry, expected to be one of the year’s most significant. Jean-David Péquignot, Chief Commercial Officer at the derivatives exchange Deribit, told CoinDesk this expiry will be unusually large. He noted that total open interest in Bitcoin options sits near $40 billion, and about 38% of that open interest is scheduled to expire on Friday.
A key data point traders watch around such events is the “max pain” level—the strike price where the most options (both puts and calls) would expire worthless, theoretically inflicting the greatest financial loss on option holders. Péquignot said the max pain for Friday’s expiry is $102,000 and that the put/call ratio stands at about 0.73. That combination can create a gravitational pull toward the $102,000 area as the expiry time approaches.
Volatility eases, but caution remains
Despite the looming expiry, measures of market volatility have cooled. Bitcoin’s implied volatility, tracked by Deribit’s DVOL index, has fallen to roughly 38% from the roughly 50% levels recorded during a turbulent April. This decline suggests traders expect smaller swings in the near term and reflects growing confidence in Bitcoin’s role as a macro hedge, according to Péquignot.
Nevertheless, analysis of put-call skews shows no clear directional bias among options traders in the short term, pointing to a neutral stance in the market. Péquignot highlighted the technical importance of the $105,000 level for Bitcoin, warning that a break below that support could warrant increased caution.
He also observed that low open interest in perpetual futures and a subdued implied volatility and skew for Bitcoin imply limited market expectations for sharp price moves ahead of Friday’s expiry. In other words, while large volumes sit on exchanges, the derivatives market is signaling relatively muted directional bets at this stage.
Crypto stocks show divergent performance
Equity markets displayed mixed results for crypto-related stocks on Thursday. Mining company Core Scientific (CORZ) led gains after rising more than 33% following a Wall Street Journal report that AI hyperscaler CoreWeave (CRWV) may be preparing an acquisition. Several other crypto-linked names, including Circle (CRCL), Coinbase (COIN), Riot Platforms (RIOT), and Hut 8 (HUT), climbed between approximately 5% and 7%, while MicroStrategy (MSTR) slipped nearly 1%.
Meanwhile, stablecoins such as USDT and USDC have been prominent in U.S. headlines amid regulatory and market developments like the GENIUS Act and Circle’s high-profile IPO. But beyond that coverage, stablecoins are quietly reshaping cross-border finance across Asia.
In the region, stablecoins are increasingly viewed by banks as practical tools to manage liquidity and transactional flow, not simply speculative instruments. Major banks in countries including South Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong have begun exploring the issuance of local-currency stablecoins to hedge against deposit outflows and protect payment revenue, according to Amy Zhang, Head of Asia at Fireblocks, in a recent interview with CoinDesk.
Zhang summarized the concern succinctly: if a bank does not have a relationship with issuers of widely used stablecoins, it risks losing deposits. That perceived threat is prompting strategic moves by traditional financial institutions seeking to safeguard their customer base and preserve fee income.
This quieter adoption underscores a deeper, more utility-driven integration of digital assets taking place across Asia—often away from the spotlight of Western speculative markets. Banks and other financial institutions are increasingly evaluating and piloting stablecoin use cases to enhance cross-border payments, reduce settlement friction, and retain clients in an evolving digital financial ecosystem.