The price of Bitcoin (BTC) remained above the $69,000 mark on March 29, despite the market experiencing the largest quarterly Bitcoin futures options expiry event in history.
According to Hao Yang, the global head of derivatives trading at Bybit exchange, over $15.1 billion worth of cryptocurrency futures options expired on Deribit at 8:00 am UTC on March 29. This information was shared in a March 28 post by Deribit. Out of the $15.1 billion, $9.53 billion represented the notional value of Bitcoin options expiring at a put/call ratio of 0.84, with a “max pain” price potential of $51,000.
While the expiry of options can lead to increased volatility, Yang explained that the “max pain” price point does not accurately reflect Bitcoin’s long-term price potential, as its value is still tied to its fundamental principles.
Andrey Stoychev, project manager at Nexo’s prime brokerage division, stated that despite the expiry, the impact on the price was minimal. CoinMarketCap data shows that the price of Bitcoin fell 0.7% in the 24 hours leading up to 10:35 am UTC, trading at $69,924. On the monthly chart, the world’s first cryptocurrency has seen an increase of over 11.9%.
Rekt Capital, in a video analysis on March 26, suggested that Bitcoin’s historic pre-halving retracement aligns with previous historical retraces. If the price of Bitcoin can turn its old all-time high of $69,000 into a support level, then the current pre-halving correction may be over.
In conclusion, the Bitcoin market experienced a significant options expiry event, but the impact on the price was minimal. The cryptocurrency remained above the $69,000 mark, showing signs of a potential end to the pre-halving correction.