Will the cryptocurrency market continue to soar as 126 billion Bitcoin options expire

CoinWorld reported:
Approximately 18,500 Bitcoin options contracts with a nominal value of about $1.26 billion are set to expire on Friday, October 18th.
Today’s options expiration is relatively low compared to the previous week, due to decreased volatility. As a result, the impact on the spot market is expected to be minimal.
However, there is a large $4 billion Bitcoin options expiration event scheduled for the last Friday of this month.
The put/call ratio for Bitcoin options contracts expiring this week is 0.86, indicating a slightly higher number of long (call) contracts expiring compared to short (put) contracts.
Additionally, the value or quantity of open interest (OI), which refers to outstanding options contracts that have not yet expired, remains high with a strike price of $70,000, totaling over $1 billion when calculated at that price. OI also exceeds $1 billion when calculated at a strike price of $100,000, indicating renewed confidence in derivatives longs.
Analyst James Check observed that Bitcoin futures OI has reached a new all-time high. He added that this signifies two things: high leverage implies a greater likelihood of volatility, but the larger Bitcoin becomes, the larger this indicator becomes as well, suggesting it is merely a scale issue.
New ATH for Bitcoin futures open interest.
Two things:
1) High leverage implies a greater likelihood of volatility.
2) The larger Bitcoin becomes, the larger this indicator becomes as well, suggesting it is merely a scale issue.
If you are a hodler, be patient; don’t be scared
there will be a pullback
pic.twitter.com/7MoS6edDRV
– Check⚡☢️️ (@_Check_)
October 17, 2024
In addition to today’s Bitcoin options, there are 137,000 Ethereum options set to expire, with a put/call ratio of 0.62 and a nominal value of $367 million. This brings the total value of Friday’s crypto options expiration slightly above $1.6 billion for this week.
Cryptocurrency Market Outlook
Despite Bitcoin reaching a ten-week high, the total market capitalization slightly declined to $2.42 trillion today.
The asset surged to $68,159 during the Asian trading session on Friday morning, continuing the momentum it has gained since the same period last week, with an increase of nearly 12%.
BTC has not reached this level since late July, leading analysts to speculate that a breakout is imminent after higher highs.
However, before BTC breaks the historical high from mid-March, it remains in a range-bound state and may see a pullback over the weekend as profits decrease. Analysts believe that the accumulation phase may be coming to an end.
I think any targets for BTC within this cycle should now be adjusted higher, given the six months of consolidation that took place after the previous ATH. A large supply has changed hands and is now likely in the possession of those aiming for higher targets.
– Will (@WCelementIII)
October 18, 2024
Altcoins Down Today
FUD Damaged
Ethereum was rejected again at $2,650 and has fallen back to $2,600 at the time of writing.
Most altcoins are in the red, except for Dogecoin (DOGE), which has risen by 6% to $0.132.