Bitcoin's early 2020 rally has come to an abrupt halt, with the price failing to hold above $10,000 per bitcoin. <\/p>\n
The bitcoin price, up around 30% so far this year, has been treading water at around $9,400 since it briefly moved above $10,000 earlier this month. <\/p>\n
Now, bitcoin traders and investors are braced for more than 100,000 bitcoin options totaling $930 million to expire on June 26nearly 70% of bitcoins entire open interest.<\/p>\n
Bitcoin traders and investors are braced for major moves in the bitcoin price this week after a ... [+] brief period of low volatility.<\/p>\n
Bitcoin's looming options expiry could spark a bout of price volatility, with previous large expiries causing the market to \"bounce quite aggressively\" and the size of the bitcoin open interest market recently soaring.<\/p>\n
Bitcoin open interest has climbed to $1.3 billion, double what it was just a couple of months ago, according to data from bitcoin and crypto analytics provider Skew. <\/p>\n
Deribit, a Panama-based derivatives exchange, accounts for 77% of the bitcoin options market, although regulated venues CME and LedgerX have gained ground recently.<\/p>\n
The split between bullish and bearish options is currently fairly neutral, although most of the CME contracts are for bitcoin at above its current pricewith 75% of CME contracts calling bitcoin at $11,000 and higher.<\/p>\n
On top of Friday's coming bitcoin options expiry, global stocks have slipped due to a resurgence in coronavirus infections across Europe, the U.S. and China weighing on investor confidence.<\/p>\n
\"The key thing to watch over the next few weeks is the Covid-19 related equities sell off,\" Chris Thomas, head of digital assets at Swissquote Bank, told Coindesk. <\/p>\n
\"If markets react very negatively towards the increased Covid-19 cases, we may see more panic which could also pull bitcoin lower.\"<\/p>\n
There are far more bitcoin options set to expire this week than usual--something that could trigger ... [+] a fresh wave of market volatility. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, despite a surge in bitcoin options interest, most bitcoin buyers are treating it as digital gold, preferring to hold bitcoin for the long term term. <\/p>\n
\"The data shows that the majority of bitcoin is held by those who treat it as digital gold: an asset to be held for the long term,\" Chainalysis researchers wrote last week.<\/p>\n
\"With more people looking to trade bitcoin, which is only becoming more scarce following the recent halving, bitcoin moving from the investment bucket into the trading bucket could become a crucial source of liquidity. However, one would expect this will only happen if bitcoins price rises to a level at which long-term investors are willing to sell.\"<\/p>\n
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