Points of Focus

• Bitcoin traded near $60,000 ahead of a quarterly options expiry carrying about $10.6 billion in notional exposure.
• BTC entered settlement well below the $72,000 max pain level as traders increased downside hedging.
• Weak ETF demand and thin quarter-end liquidity may keep volatility elevated beyond Friday’s expiry.

Bitcoin (BTC) hovered near $60,000 on Friday as traders prepared for one of the largest crypto derivatives events of 2026, with $10.6 billion worth of Bitcoin options contracts approaching expiry on Deribit. The settlement arrives after BTC briefly slid below $59,000 this week and at a time when institutional demand has weakened, putting trader positioning and hedging activity under closer scrutiny ahead of July.

Bitcoin changed hands near $60,500 at the time of writing after recovering from an intraday low near $58,000 earlier in the Asian session.

Bitcoin options expiry puts the $60,000 level in focus

Around 153,500 Bitcoin options contracts are scheduled to expire on June 26, representing between $9.3 billion and $10.6 billion in notional exposure depending on the methodology used by market trackers. 

Deribit said the June settlement is the exchange’s largest expiry event of 2026 so far, while BTC options account for 37% of its open interest.

Bitcoin enters expiry well below the widely watched $72,000 max pain level, a price where the largest number of options contracts would expire worthless. Most call positions built around expectations of higher prices have already moved out of the money as BTC remains trapped near the lower end of its recent range.

🚨 Q2 Options Expiry Alert 🚨

At 08:00 UTC tomorrow, ~$10.8B in BTC and ETH options are set to expire on Deribit. The largest expiry event on Deribit in 2026 so far.

bitcoin:native : ~$9.3B notional | P/C: 0.73 | Max Pain: $72K
ethereum:native : ~$1.6B notional | P/C: 0.54 |… pic.twitter.com/lFgWcR6kQc

— Deribit (@DeribitOfficial) June 25, 2026

Deribit reported a put-to-call ratio of 0.73 for the expiring batch, while other market participants estimated the figure closer to 0.83. Options analytics platform GreeksLive reported on X that puts continue to trade at premiums over calls across major tenors, reflecting continued demand for downside protection even though call contracts still represent a larger share of open positions.

BTC's 25 delta skew continues to deteriorate across short-dated maturities, with 1D, 7D, and 1M tenors now trading near the most negative levels recorded in recent months. The repricing has been concentrated in the front end of the curve, while longer-dated maturities have… pic.twitter.com/abHtcfL9ND

— Greeks.live (@GreeksLive) June 23, 2026

ETF outflows and hedging demand weigh on sentiment

The derivatives event is unfolding against a less supportive backdrop for Bitcoin demand. Data compiled by SoSoValue showed US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have experienced nearly $3 billion in net outflows during June, removing one of Bitcoin’s most consistent regulated demand channels during a period of weaker spot buying.

Open interest in Bitcoin options across exchanges remains near $34 billion, according to CoinGlass, with the largest concentration sitting at the $80,000 strike price. At the same time, traders still hold about $1 billion worth of open interest around the $60,000 strike, making the current price zone particularly sensitive to hedging activity.

Jean-David Péquignot, chief commercial officer of Deribit, told Bloomberg that a market previously positioned for higher prices is now being marked against a weaker spot environment as Bitcoin trades far below many upside strike prices.

Bitcoin Faces $10 Billion Options Expiry in Fresh Selloff Test

Bloomberg reported that Bitcoin is facing a roughly USD 10 billion options expiry that could add pressure to a market already hit by cooling institutional demand and macro headwinds. About USD 10 billion in Bitcoin… pic.twitter.com/fDZSEdJpvm

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) June 25, 2026

Recent expiries challenge the max pain narrative

Some traders continue to view the $72,000 max pain level as a magnet for prices heading into settlement. Recent data offers a different perspective.

Deribit said recent quarterly expiries have shown limited evidence of a consistent pinning effect ahead of settlement.

Wintermute over-the-counter trader Jasper De Maere also said recent expiries have not mechanically pushed Bitcoin toward max pain levels in the way many traders expect.

Adam Haeems, head of asset management at Tesseract Group, said options expiries tend to clear positioning rather than set direction. He added that the first full week of July may provide a better gauge of sentiment once quarterly books have cleared and leverage has been reduced.

CoinGlass data shows Bitcoin options open interest remains near $34 billion across exchanges despite BTC briefly falling below $60,000 this week.