Bitcoin (BTC) began an early year-end flourish on December 31st, as BTC/USD reclaimed $48,000 due to an upward move.
option expires
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed that BTC/USD suddenly surged above $1,500 in one hour on Friday.
A refreshing counterpoint to several days of the downtrend, the move gave a taste of what could happen in a crypto market where liquidity is thinner than usual during the holiday period.
Futures + Option Expiry
— IamNomad (@IamNomad) 31 December 2021
Traders argue that the bitcoin options expiry event in December, which was valued at around $6 billion, could have provided immediate relief, given the pressure it has traditionally put on BTC price action.
A survey conducted by the Bitcoin Twitter account in early December showed that the majority of participants expected BTC/USD to rise above $55,000 by the time it expires.
As Cointelegraph reported, expectations are growing that the “flipping” BTC ownership will see institutions play a more significant role as early as next month.
Professional trading platform Coinbase Pro saw around 10,000 BTC leave its books 24 hours ago.
altcoins relieved
With bitcoin lacking volatility, altcoins took the opportunity to follow suit, reversing some of the week’s losses.
RELATED: Small Forks: BCH and BSV Crushed Bitcoin Price in 2021
Ether (ETH), the largest altcoin by market capitalization, was trading at around $3,800 at the time of writing, down 7.2% over the past seven days and below the $4,000 mark.
At the time of this writing, the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap have seen an increase of 1.5% to 4%.
