Here's why Bitcoin bears aim to pin BTC under $39K ahead of Friday's $1.9B options expiry

cointelegraph.com:

Up until April 25, Bitcoin (BTC) bulls had been defending the $38,000 level, but bulls were caught off-guard by the recent drop. As Bitcoin plunged from $46,700 to $37,700 between April 5 and 26, most of the bullish bets for the upcoming $1.96 billion monthly options expiry became worthless.

Regulatory concerns continue to pose a threat to Bitcoin and on April 26, the New York State Assembly passed a bill banning new proof-of-work (PoW) cryptocurrency carbon-based mining facilities in the state. Fortunately for Bitcoin, mining equipment is portable so there's no real risk to the Bitcoin network's security but the steady threat of anti-crypto legislation can have an impact on price.

Geopolitical tension in Europe also led investors to avoid riskier assets and many are seeking protection in U.S. dollar-denominated assets. CNBC reported that the impact of Russian state energy firm Gazprom's decision to halt natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria created concerns about a deeper economic slowdown in the Eurozone region.

Investors are also obsessed with the potential U.S. Federal Reserve 250 basis point rate hike planned throughout 2022. The maneuver aims to contain inflationary pressure but it could spin global economies into a recession and this is another reason why investors are avoiding highly-volatile assets like cryptocurrencies.

The open interest for the April 29 options expiry in Bitcoin is $2 billion, but the actual figure will be much lower since bulls were not expecting the BTC price to drop below $40,000.

These traders might have been fooled as Bitcoin held above $45,000 between March 27 and April 6, placing enormous bets for the monthly options expiry above $50,000.

The 1.55 call-to-put ratio shows more sizable