Over $8B option expiry could send ‘gold’s biggest rival’ tumbling

Bitcoin faces a potentially volatile expiry this Friday, Apr. 24, as roughly $7.9 billion of BTC options on Deribit expire. Market positioning clusters large call open interest near $75,000 (~$395m) and put open interest near $62,000 (~$330m), with a $71,000 “max pain” level between them. Deribit holds about $31 billion of Bitcoin options open interest versus BlackRock’s IBIT near $28.8 billion. Funding rates on perpetual futures are negative, signaling a build-up of short positions that could fuel a short squeeze if BTC stays above $75,000, but the clustered gamma and concentrated puts also raise the risk of amplified downside if sellers dominate. Traders should watch option expiries, funding rates and the $75k/$62k levels for potential outsized market moves.