Bitcoin price is trading at levels few analysts anticipated. Could this week’s $4.5 billion options expiry help change the trend?
Bitcoin’s (BTC) price traded below the $40,000 support on Jan. 18 for the first time in 50 days, and the upcoming $4.5 billion BTC monthly options expiry on Jan. 26 might hold the key to whether the downtrend will continue. Oddly enough, the U.S. stock market reached an all-time high on Jan. 22, indicating that whatever held back Bitcoin’s performance is unlikely to be related to the macroeconomic scenario.
Some analysts argue that most of the selling pressure comes from the Grayscale GBTC, which experienced significant outflows since its conversion to a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) on Jan. 11. The instrument holds over $25 billion in assets, and despite being listed since 2015 in the form of a Trust fund, its investors were previously unable to request redemptions.
Bitcoin influencer @alanbwt described the situation on X social network as "the biggest blown lead in the history of Bitcoin," considering Grayscale's GBTC entered Jan. 11 with a $27 billion capitalization, while Fidelity, BlackRock, Bitwise, and the remaining contenders had to start from scratch. However, Grayscale opted for a 1.5% yearly administration fee—far higher than its incumbents—triggering the selling pressure on GBTC shares.
