Popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple have formed different risky patterns

Popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple have formed different risky patterns ahead of the closely-watched triple-witching event.

Popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Ripple (XRP) have formed different risky patterns ahead of the closely-watched triple-witching event.

Bitcoin price slipped to $83,580 from the weekly high of $87,158, while Ethereum dropped below $2,000. Ripple also fell from this week’s high of $2.59 to $2.35.

A likely reason for this price action is that market participants are waiting for the quarterly triple-witching event on Wall Street. Triple witching is a day that happens on the third Friday of March, June, September, and December. On this day, stock options, stock index futures, and index options expire simultaneously.

The upcoming triple-witching event will see options and futures contracts worth over $4.5 trillion expire. Historically, stocks and cryptocurrency prices experience heightened volatility ahead of, during, and after the witching event.

For example, Bitcoin price opened at $97,777 on the last triple-witching event on Dec. 20. It then crashed to $92,200 and ended the day at $97,000.

This quarter’s triple witching event is happening as concerns about Donald Trump’s tariffs have remained. It also comes two days after the Federal Reserve delivered a muted interest rate decision. While officials warned of stagflation, Jerome Powell noted that inflation would be transitory. The Fed also hinted that it would soon scale down its quantitative tightening policies.

Bitcoin price has formed a rising wedge

There is a risk that the BTC price will drop ahead of or after the triple-witching event. It has formed a rising wedge pattern, comprising two ascending and converging trendlines. This pattern is on top of the double-top at $108,150 and the death cross that formed on March 14. These patterns point to further Bitcoin price downside, with the immediate target being at $76,890, its March low.