Bitcoin rises above $48,500 in a show of strength as over $6 billion of options expires.
Bitcoin (BTC) put in an early end-of-year flourish on Dec. 31 as an upward boost saw BTC/USD retake $48,000.
BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingViewOptions expiry fades
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Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD abruptly gaining over $1,500 in a single hour on Friday.
A refreshing counterpoint to several days of downtrend, the move gave a taste of what could happen in a crypto market where liquidity is thinner than normal over the holiday period.
December’s Bitcoin options expiry event, worth almost $6 billion, could have provided the snap relief, traders argued, this traditionally pressuring BTC price action beforehand.
A survey by the Bitcoin Twitter account earlier in December showed that the majority of participants expected BTC/USD to be above $55,000 by the time of the expiry.
Bitcoin Twitter survey. Source: TwitterAs Cointelegraph reported, expectations are mounting that a “flippening” in ownership of BTC will see institutions play a more important role overall beginning next month.
Professional trading platform Coinbase Pro saw almost 10,000 BTC leave its books 24 hours prior to the uptick.
Relief spills over to altcoins
With volatility far from absent on Bitcoin, altcoins took the opportunity to follow suit, reversing some of the week’s losses.
Related: Little forkers: BCH and BSV get crushed by Bitcoin price in 2021
Ether (ETH), the largest altcoin by market capitalization, traded at around $3,800 at the time of writing, still down 7.2% over the past seven days and below the $4,000 mark.
ETH/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingViewThe top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap saw between 1.5% and 4% gains at the time of writing.
Source: cointelegraph.com
