Bitcoin price breaks from range with drop below $28K, and options tilt toward BTC bears
About $570 million in weekly BTC options expire on Friday, and the recent macro and crypto news events have further tilted the advantage to bearish traders. On Aug. 16, Bitcoin closed below $29,000 for the first time in 56 days. Analysts quickly pointed to this week’s Federal Open Market Committee minutes, which expressed concerns about inflation and the need to increase interest rates, as the likely cause. Despite the immediate reasons for the drop, the upcoming $580 million Bitcoin (BTC) options expiry on Friday favors the bears. They could potentially make a $140 million profit on Aug. 18, adding to the downward pressure on Bitcoin and complicating BTC’s search for a bottom. Federal Reserve minutes did not impact traditional markets On Aug. 16, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell emphasized the 2% inflation target. This pushed the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield to its highest level since October 2007, prompting investors to shift away from riskier assets like cryptocurrencies in favo...