Bitcoin trades above $69K following largest quarterly options expiry in history

Zoltan Vardai12 hours agoBitcoin trades above $69K following largest quarterly options expiry in historyBitcoin remained above the key $69,000 mark following the quarterly expiry event, suggesting the pre-halving retracement may be over.9222 Total views23 Total sharesListen to article 0:00NewsOwn this piece of crypto historyCollect this article as NFTJoin us on social networksThe Bitcoin (BTC) price remained above the $69,000 mark on March 29 despite the market experiencing the biggest quarterly Bitcoin futures options expiry event in history.

Hao Yang, the global head of derivatives trading at Bybit exchange, told Cointelegraph:“We have experienced the largest option expiration in history for Bybit and Deribit as well. People may roll over or unwind their hedging position during the expiration time, and the action of unwinding may have a small impact on the price movement in the very short term.”

Over $15.1 billion worth of cryptocurrency futures options expired on Deribit on March 29 at 8:00 am UTC, according to a March 28 X post by Deribit.

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.BTC options: Open interest by strike price. Source:Deribit

While options expiry can lead to heightened volatility, the max pain price point doesn’t offer an accurate reflection of Bitcoin’s long-term price potential, which is still tied to its fundamental values,  Yang explained:“Just as a fancy gaming PC case doesn’t directly impact the performance of the hardware inside, max pain is an indicator that provides some insight but ultimately has limited influence on the actual price movement of Bitcoin.”

Related:Max pain $51K? Bitcoin options worth over $9.4B set to expire Friday

Despite the expiry, the price impact was minimal, said Andrey Stoychev, project manager at Nexo’s prime brokerage division. He told Cointelegraph:“With the current scenario where calls are substantially in the money while puts are converging to zero, delta hedging has largely concluded, and we anticipate minimal price impact from the expiry. However, the pivotal question remains: will the call profits be reinvested into new contracts, and if so, what strikes and maturities will be favored?”The pre-halving Bitcoin correction may be over

Bitcoin price fell 0.7% in the 24 hours leading up to 10:35 am UTC to trade at $69,924, according to CoinMarketCap data. The world’s first cryptocurrency is up over 11.9% on the monthly chart.BTC/USDT/ 1-day chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin’s historic pre-halving retracement occurred in line with previous historical retraces. The current pre-halving correction may be over if Bitcoin price can flip its old all-time high of $69,000 into support, said Rekt Capital in a March 26 video analysis:“Bitcoin is now peaking beyond this old all-time high, potentially positioning itself for this pre-halving retracement to be over.”

Related: Bitcoin Halving: Latest News and Full Coverage by Cointelegraph# Bitcoin# Cryptocurrencies# Bitcoin Price# Markets# Bitcoin Halving# Bitcoin OptionsAdd reaction