Bitcoin options worth $13 billion are set to expire soon, with bears holding the edge as the market worries that this month’s downtrend may continue

On June 21, it was reported that Bitcoin options worth approximately $13 billion will expire on June 26. The current open-interest positioning clearly favors the bears, and the market is worried that this month’s downtrend may continue. So far in June, Bitcoin has fallen by about 14%. Most bullish options are concentrated at strike levels of $68,000 and above, leaving a large portion of long positions heavily underwater.

Options market data shows that the Deribit platform holds $10.4 billion in open interest, accounting for 79% of the market share. Of this, open interest in call options totals $6 billion, but 78% of it is concentrated above $72,000. With less than a week to expiration, the actual effective positioning may shrink significantly. Among $4.5 billion in put options, only 28% are betting on Bitcoin falling below $57,000, and overall, the bearish structure is more robust.

Based on the current price trend, all four scenarios at the June 26 expiration are favorable to the bears, with a net advantage ranging from $1 billion to $3.4 billion. Even if Bitcoin rebounds by 12% from the current level of about $63,000, the expiration outcome is still unlikely to turn into a profit for the bulls.

The bulls’ prior optimism was driven by Strategy’s large purchases of approximately 62,841 Bitcoins between April and May, which pushed the price above $73,000. However, subsequently, sustained net outflows from US Bitcoin spot ETFs and delays in the progress of the digital asset tax legislation caused market sentiment to turn sharply negative. Analysts noted that while this options expiration does not lock in July’s trend, it will suppress confidence among the bulls.