Bitcoin holds $94,000 after $7.2 billion options expiry as whales accumulate amid 2-year high CEX outflows

The bitcoin price stood firm on Friday after 76,709 options contracts with an estimated notional value of $7.2 billion expired. BTC changed hands for $94,500 following the event — up 2% from Thursday’s dip to $92,000 — according to The Block’s price page .

Options are a derivative that allows buyers to buy or “call” an asset at a specific price, known as “strike.” Alternatively, the trader can choose to sell through a “put.” Investors are not obligated to do either — a key benefit provided by options contracts.

Calls outnumbered puts with a put-to-call ratio of 0.73 before expiry and a maximum pain of $86,000. Max pain simply means the price where buyers would extract the most profit and sellers would suffer the biggest loss. Buy contracts totaled 43,917, primarily concentrated around the $100,000 and $95,000 strike prices. The pattern showed “a clear sign of persistent long-term bullish expectations,” Aran Hawker, CoinPanel CEO, told The Block.

Put orders, some 32,793 contracts, were consolidated at $70,000 and $80,000 as traders hedged against possible downside price action. Max pain for selling sat at $86,000, indicating market makers positioned to stem volatility should BTC slide.

“Traders are now rolling exposure into late May and late June, with a clear bullish tilt and growing demand for longer-dated options,” Hawker added. May 30 and June 27 are the next expiration dates per Deribit.

Bitfinex analysts also noted moderate market optimism based on Friday’s BTC options expiry. While short-term choppy price movements remain possible, traders increasingly expect higher bitcoin levels throughout the second quarter of 2025. “With the $90K strike cluster now cleared, there’s less option-based resistance overhead," Bitfinex experts said in a note to The Block, adding that "many participants now eye higher strikes — $95K and $100K strikers are building considerable call open interest for end-April and May expiries.”

They also expect spot BTC exchange-traded inflows, which picked up this week, will likely significantly impact bitcoin’s ability to hold above $90,000.

Whale accumulation

Bitcoin options expiries this big typically lead to market volatility. Yet, prices steadied after the settlement. BTC at-the-money implied volatility, a measure of bitcoin’s expected price swings over a year, dipped slightly on April 25, as The Block’s data showed.

Two factors may explain why this happened: centralized exchanges have seen the largest BTC withdrawals since 2023, according to CryptoQuant, and Glassnode reported that whales bought into the recent rally. Based on the 100-day moving average, a CryptoQuant analyst highlighted the highest bitcoin CEX outflows in two years and suggested a re-accumulation phase was in play.

Glassnode said that “large players have been buying into this rally,” via an X post . The data provider’s Accumulation Trend Score — a tracker for sizable bitcoin purchases by large entities — revisited levels last seen in late December and early 2025.