The broader crypto market has moved through a volatile stretch, as tensions around the Strait of Hormuz disrupted sentiment and triggered sharp, reactive swings. Bitcoin [BTC] led this instability, repeatedly failing to hold direction as macro uncertainty drove risk-off behavior.

At the same time, derivative positioning quietly added pressure. Traders clustered around the $75,000 max-pain level into the expiry on the 27th of March, which kept prices pinned despite underlying demand.

This created a market that looked weak, not because demand disappeared, but because positioning suppressed movement.

Once roughly $14 billion in Options expired, the price began to stabilize as forced hedging flows faded and real demand…