Tonight at 16:00, over 300,000 BTC options contracts will expire simultaneously, involving up to $23.7 billion. Behind this number lies the true battle between bulls and bears—and also a core issue that market participants often overlook.

Most people's attention is focused on "rise or fall," but few think deeply about: who actually determines the settlement price at expiration?

In traditional financial systems, this is determined by the official closing price of the exchange. But the reality in crypto markets is more complex. Historical data shows that during critical periods before settlement, prices can become targets for manipulation. Large funds can rapidly push up or smash prices on less liquid exchanges, influencing the payout of billions of dollars in options globally—this phenomenon can occur in every expiration cycle.

The fundamental issue lies in the transparency and anti-manipulation capability of the price discovery mechanism. When a massive number of contracts expire simultaneously, the authenticity of price data becomes the scarcest resource. This is precisely why decentralized oracle technology is becoming increasingly important—not only as a price quoting tool but also as a "tamper-proof" infrastructure under extreme market conditions.

By aggregating depth data from multiple mainstream exchanges and verifying on-chain, such solutions provide a more resistant price reference mechanism against single-point manipulation. In the face of the $23.7 billion liquidation wave, this neutral, verifiable price benchmark is crucial for the overall stability of the market.