Bitcoin Stays Flat Before $102K Options Expiry: What to Expect?
bitcoin Holds Steady Ahead of Major Options Expiry
Market Overview
bitcoin has been trading within a narrow range during U.S. market hours on Thursday, as traders prepare for a significant options expiry scheduled for Friday. Currently, bitcoin is priced at $107,500, reflecting a slight decline of 0.2% over the last 24 hours. In contrast, the CoinDesk 20 index, which tracks the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization (excluding stablecoins), has experienced a 0.9% drop in the same timeframe.
Upcoming Options Expiry
Jean-David Péquignot, the chief commercial officer at Deribit, highlighted that this Friday will witness one of the largest options expiries of the year. The open interest for bitcoin options stands at an impressive $40 billion, with 38% of these contracts set to expire tomorrow. Péquignot noted that the “max pain” price for this expiry is positioned at $102,000, accompanied by a put/call ratio of 0.73.
Market Sentiment and Volatility
bitcoin‘s implied volatility, as measured by Deribit DVOL, has decreased from 50% to 38%, suggesting that market participants may be gaining confidence in bitcoin‘s role as a macro hedge. However, the put-call skews indicate a lack of clear directional sentiment among traders in the short term. Péquignot emphasized the importance of the $105,000 level for bitcoin, warning that a failure to maintain support at this level could lead to caution among investors. The current low open interest in perpetual contracts, combined with subdued implied volatility, suggests limited expectations for significant price fluctuations leading up to the expiry.
Crypto Stocks Performance
On Thursday, several cryptocurrency-related stocks are showing positive momentum. Core Scientific (CORZ) has surged over 33% following reports from the Wall Street Journal indicating a potential acquisition by AI Hyperscaler CoreWeave (CRWV). Other notable gainers include Circle (CRCL), Coinbase (COIN), Riot Platforms (RIOT), and Hut 8 (HUT), all of which have risen by 5% to 7%. Conversely, MicroStrategy (MSTR) has seen a slight decline of nearly 1%.
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