Key Takeaways
- BTC declined approximately 3% to $68,500 on Friday, registering a 2.7% loss for the week
- Friday’s $14 billion Bitcoin options expiration has market participants concerned, with maximum pain positioned near $75,000
- Market sentiment reached extreme fear levels with the Crypto Fear & Greed Index registering 13
- Whale and shark wallets accumulated 61,568 BTC during the past 30 days
- Bitcoin ETFs recorded $2.5 billion in net positive flows over the last month despite declining prices
Bitcoin experienced a roughly 3% downturn to $68,507 on Friday, extending a difficult week characterized by persistent Middle East conflict concerns and an approaching $14 billion options expiration event.
The downturn mirrored a recurring trend for the fifth straight week. President Trump’s decision to extend his Iran ceasefire deadline by an additional 10 days initially sparked a price rally while crude oil retreated. However, subsequent Wall Street Journal reporting that the Pentagon was evaluating deploying up to 10,000 more ground forces to the Middle East quickly reversed those gains.
Brent crude initially dropped 1.3% to $106 before the military deployment news emerged. The cryptocurrency market broadly declined nearly 1%, pushing total market capitalization to $2.4 trillion.
Ethereum decreased 4.6% to $2,050. Solana slipped 5.3% to $85.93. XRP declined 2.8% to $1.36, down 6.5% for the week. Tron stood as the sole major gainer, advancing 1.2% for the day.
Massive $14 Billion Options Event Looms
Approximately $14 billion worth of Bitcoin options contracts are scheduled to expire Friday on the Deribit platform. Bloomberg analysts identified the maximum pain threshold near $75,000, representing the price point where the greatest number of options contracts become worthless.
Following this expiration event, short-term hedging activity across crypto markets is anticipated to decline, potentially leaving Bitcoin more vulnerable to volatility driven by Middle East geopolitical developments.
Bitcoin has failed to sustainably breach the $75,000 level since the regional conflict erupted nearly a month ago. The digital asset has fallen approximately 50% from its late-2025 all-time high near $126,000.
Asian equity markets similarly declined 0.6% on Friday. South Korean technology stocks experienced the steepest losses, with Samsung and SK Hynix driving the KOSPI down 2.3%.
Large Holders Continue Accumulation
Major Bitcoin holders are actively buying during the downturn. Whale and shark addresses — classified as wallets containing between 10 and 10,000 BTC — expanded their holdings by 0.45% throughout the past month, accumulating a total of 61,568 BTC, according to blockchain analytics provider Santiment.
Smaller wallets holding less than 0.01 BTC added 213 BTC during the identical timeframe, representing a 0.42% gain.
Dominick John, an analyst at Zeus Research, observed that whales are “quietly stacking during consolidation periods” in anticipation of a potential price breakthrough. He indicated that should retail investor FOMO intensify excessively, a temporary pause or correction might occur before the subsequent accumulation cycle.
Bitcoin ETFs attracted $2.5 billion in net positive flows throughout the past month, according to Bloomberg data. BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF secured a position in the top 2% of all ETFs by inflows year-to-date.
BlackRock observed this week that institutional investors are consolidating positions in bitcoin and ethereum while steering clear of the wider altcoin ecosystem.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index registered 13 on Friday, firmly in “extreme fear” range, matching readings throughout February and the previous week.
The next critical milestone arrives in early April, when Trump’s extended Iran ceasefire deadline reaches its conclusion.
