Bitcoin at $79,568: which levels count before Friday's options expiry

The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry a high degree of risk. Always conduct your own research.Analysis: 135,545 bitcoin options expire on Deribit on Friday morning, worth roughly $10.8 billion. The price stands at $79,568 on Tuesday morning, with the computed centre of gravity of the expiry below that.Here is what is documented: bitcoin trades at $79,568 on Tuesday morning, measured at 05:41 Central European Time on CoinGecko, and on Friday at 9 a.m. a total of 135,545 bitcoin contracts expire on the options exchange Deribit. Our reading follows further down: the expiry explains why the price has been moving in a narrow range for days, but it says nothing about the direction afterwards. If you hold bitcoin, this is no academic question. An expiry of this size ties up capital until Friday morning that is then released, and this time it coincides with the last trading day of the month. Anyone looking to sell or add this week meets a market whose range is being held artificially tight. The night stayed tight, $79,421 marked the low Over the past 24 hours, bitcoin traded bet...