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Bitcoin bears need BTC price to go below $27K ahead of Friday’s $900M options expiry

Bitcoin bears need BTC price to go below $27K ahead of Friday's $900M options expiry

The $900 million Bitcoin (BTC) weekly options expiry on May 12 might play a decisive role in determining whether the price will succumb below $27,000.

Bitcoin price rejected again at $30,000

BTC bears will try to take advantage of macroeconomic headwinds, Silk Road coins’ FUD, and uncertainty caused by Bitcoin’s transaction fee spike to pull Bitcoin’s price down in the next few days.

Bitcoin 4-h price movements during option expiries. Source: TradingView

The BTC/USD pair  broke above $29,800 on May 6, but the tide quickly changed as the resistance proved stronger than anticipated.

The subsequent 8.2% two-day correction tested  $27,400 support, favoring the thesis of sideways trading as investors evaluate the economic crisis dynamic and its potential impact on cryptocurrencies.

Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathaway owner and billionaire investor Warren Buffett is no longer optimistic about the U.S. economy’s growth. Such a pessimistic scenario for the global economy might explain why some Bitcoin traders decided to reduce exposure over the past week, greatly reducing the odds of breaking $30,000.

Bitcoin options: bulls were excessively optimistic

The open interest for the May 12 options expiry is $900 million, but the actual figure will be lower since bears were expecting sub-$28,000 price levels.

These traders got excessively optimistic after Bitcoin’s price rallied 11.2% between April 9 and April 14, testing the $31,000 resistance.

Bitcoin options aggregate open interest for May 12. Source: CoinGlass

The 1.65 call-to-put ratio reflects the imbalance between the $560 million in call (buy) open interest and the $340 million in put (sell) options.

But if Bitcoin’s price remains near $27,500 at 8:00 am UTC on May 12, only $11 million worth of these call (buy) options will be available. This difference happens because the right to buy Bitcoin at $28,000 or $29,000 is useless if BTC trades below that level on expiry.

Bitcoin bulls aim for $28,000 to balance the scales

Below are the four most likely scenarios based on the current price action. The number of options contracts available on May 12 for call (bull) and put (bear) instruments varies, depending on the expiry price.

The imbalance favoring each side constitutes the theoretical profit:

  • Between $25,000 and $27,000: 100 calls vs. 9,900 puts. Bears in total control, profiting $230 million.
  • Between $27,000 and $28,000: 400 calls vs. 5,000 puts. The net result favors the put (sell) instruments by $120…

Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Cointelegraph.com News…