Bitcoin Traders Pile Into $52K Puts as $1.9B Options Expire Near $62.8K

Bitcoin eased to around $62,400-$62,800 on June 19 as traders aggressively bought short-dated puts on Deribit targeting $52,000 strikes. The bearish options flow followed a violent $180 million long liquidation wave on June 18 and persistent ETF outflows that reversed earlier bullish sentiment. Nearly $1.9 billion in options expired June 19 with max pain near $65,000 while implied volatility collapsed from 46 to 36. Whale accumulation to 7.17 million BTC stalled and microtransactions surged to 80% of activity, leaving price action muted despite record on-chain usage.