Bitcoin traders watch $32K ahead of Friday’s $330M BTC options expiry

Published at: July 22, 2021

This Friday’s weekly Bitcoin (BTC) options expiry currently holds $330 million in open interest. Considering the recent struggle to regain the $32,000 support level, this event is an important test of bulls’ willingness to display reversion signs.

On Wednesday, Alameda Research announced that it had made Bitcoin purchases below $30,000, and Sam Trabucco, the firm’s quantitative trader, mentioned that the narrative for BTC could turn bullish because of the ongoing fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) caused by the China BTC mining ban, Grayscale GBTC unlock and recovery in stock markets.

The chart above shows that the current downtrend channel, initiated three weeks ago, might be invalidated if the price breaks the $32,200 resistance. The move seems to have been sparked by Elon Musk’s statement that his firm SpaceX also holds Bitcoin.

During the Wednesday meet-up with Cathie Wood and Jack Dorsey, Musk said that despite the rumors, he completely opposes recent speculations that Tesla has been selling some of its Bitcoin position.

Elon Musk clarifies Tesla hasn't sold bitcoin after sparking sell-off https://t.co/jPxK5jBm3m pic.twitter.com/4uA5xB8OwB

— New York Post (@nypost) May 17, 2021

It is worth noting that the rumors had some backing only because Musk gave conflicting signals on social networks. Moreover, Tesla had sold 10% of its Bitcoin holdings in the previous month.

The $32,000 support is crucial for bulls

Friday’s options expiry might be the first strength test of this recent bounce. If bulls want to set $32,000 as a support level, there’s no better way than causing the most damage possible to the neutral-to-bearish put (sell) options.

The first signal that bears have been trying to dominate is the put-to-call ratio. The 0.81 reading reflects a smaller amount of neutral-to-bullish call (buy) options for Friday, July 23’s, expiry.

However, bears might have set themselves a trap because 96% of the put options used $32,000 or lower strike prices. If Bitcoin manages to stay above that level at 8:00 am UTC on Friday, only $8 million in put options will take part in the expiry.

Related: Bitcoin price hits $32K but derivatives metrics still show signs of weakness

On the other hand, there is $29 million worth of call options up to the $32,000 strike price. This $21-million difference favors bulls. Albeit small, it is completely opposite from an expiry below $32,000.

If $32,000 fails to hold, bears will have a $9-million lead because only 9% of the call options have been placed at $31,000 or lower.

Neither outcome is of extreme significance, but the profits could be used for the larger upcoming monthly options expiry on July 30. This is the primary reason why bulls need to hold their ground to keep the current momentum.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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