Bitcoin traded in a narrow range during U.S. market hours on Thursday, maintaining a position above the $107,000 mark as traders prepared for a major quarterly options expiry set for Friday. Despite slight declines across the broader crypto market, Bitcoin’s stability stood out amid the anticipation of a significant volume of derivatives contracts reaching expiration.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was last priced around $107,500, down a marginal 0.2% over the past 24 hours.
Market attention centers on what could be one of the largest Bitcoin options expiries of the year. Jean-David Péquignot, Chief Commercial Officer at Deribit—the leading crypto derivatives exchange—highlighted that total open interest in Bitcoin options currently stands near $40 billion. Remarkably, 38% of these contracts are set to expire this Friday.
Traders are closely monitoring the “max pain” price—the strike price at which the highest number of options would expire worthless, inflicting maximum losses on option holders. Péquignot noted that the max pain price is currently around $102,000, with a put/call ratio of 0.73. This suggests a potential market pull toward the $102,000 level as expiry approaches.
Despite the looming expiry, Bitcoin’s implied volatility has eased. The Deribit DVOL index has dropped to 38%, down from the elevated 50% levels observed during April’s market turbulence. Péquignot interpreted this as a sign that the market is growing more confident in Bitcoin’s role as a macro hedge.
However, analysis of put-call skews reveals no strong directional bias, indicating a market currently leaning toward neutrality. From a technical perspective, the $105,000 support level is critical. Péquignot cautioned that traders should watch this level carefully, as failure to hold could prompt more downside.
Additionally, low open interest in perpetual futures contracts and subdued implied volatility suggest that traders are not expecting major price swings leading into the expiry.
On the equities front, several crypto-related stocks posted gains on Thursday. Core Scientific (CORZ) was a notable outperformer, surging more than 33% following reports that AI hyperscaler CoreWeave (CRWV) may soon acquire the Bitcoin mining company.
Other crypto stocks such as Circle (CRCL), Coinbase (COIN), Riot Platforms (RIOT), and Hut 8 (HUT) also gained between 5% and 7%. Conversely, MicroStrategy (MSTR) fell nearly 1%.
While stablecoins like USDT and USDC have recently dominated headlines in the U.S. due to the GENIUS Act and Circle’s IPO, they are quietly becoming integral to cross-border finance in Asia. Regional banks are increasingly viewing stablecoins not merely as speculative assets but as strategic tools to mitigate risks such as deposit flight and loss of transaction revenues.
Amy Zhang, Head of Asia at Fireblocks, explained that major banks in Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong are actively exploring the issuance of local-currency stablecoins to counter these risks. Zhang pointed out the existential challenge banks face if they do not integrate stablecoins into their offerings, warning that losing deposits to institutions that do could be a serious threat.
This under-the-radar adoption underscores a deeper, utility-driven integration of digital assets in Asian markets—often unfolding quietly compared to the hype cycles in Western crypto ecosystems.
June 2025, Cryptoniteuae