Bitcoin Holds $70,000 as $541M Liquidations Hit and $1.72B Options Expire

Bitcoin stayed pinned near $70,000 on Friday as Deribit's March options settlement—24,838 contracts worth $1.72 billion—centered price around the "max pain" strike. In the broader market, 141,810 traders were liquidated over 24 hours for $541 million, led by $191 million in Bitcoin and $165 million in Ether liquidations. Long positions accounted for $443 million of the total losses, while shorts lost $97 million.