Strong Market Expectations of Bitcoin (BTC) Price Reaching $100,000

During the early hours of the Asian session, over $8 billion worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum options expired. Out of these, BTC options contracts accounted for over $7 billion in notional value.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome back to the US morning crypto news briefing, brought to you by BeInCrypto. Let’s take a look at the main headlines in today’s crypto news.

Bitcoin (BTC) options saw notional value of over $7 billion expire during the early hours of the Asian session, out of a total of over $8 billion for both Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) options.

Bitcoin options saw notional value of over $7 billion expire during the early hours of the Asian session, out of a total of over $8 billion for both Bitcoin and Ethereum (BTC) options.

As options approached expiration, an asset’s price would usually tend to gravitate toward its max pain level, or the strike price at which the greatest number of options traders would experience losses.

Max pain for Bitcoin options was at $86,000, while the flagship cryptocurrency was trading above this level at the time of writing, at $93,471.

After remaining range-bound for a month, Bitcoin finally broke out of the $80,000-$90,000 band that it had been trading in since mid-March.

Bitcoin had been trading sideways within the $80,000-$90,000 range since mid-March, a period during which several macroeconomic headwinds emerged.

The world’s leading cryptocurrency broke out of this band on Thursday, April 27, after which it continued to rise. At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $94,581.

Rising Market Expectations of Bitcoin Reaching $100,000

Post-expiry, the market is leaning cautiously bullish, and with the $90,000 strike cluster now cleared, there’s less option-based resistance overhead.

Many traders have rolled exposure to higher strikes, with $95,000 and $100,000 showing increased call open interest for end-April and May expiries. This indicates the expected continued upside.

However, there might be some potential for short-term chop as traders digest the post-expiry landscape and adjust positions accordingly.

This aligns with Deribit analysts’ observations that the highest open interest for BTC options was at the $100,000 strike price. This indicates strong market expectations of Bitcoin reaching this level.

The analysts note that this occurred as traders sold cash-secured put options and used stablecoins to collect premiums while buying BTC at lower prices.

The Cumulative delta (CD) across BTC and related ETF (exchange-traded fund) options on Deribit reached $9 billion.

This aligns with observations by Bitfinex analysts of rising spot flows and ETF demand.

“Spot flows and ETF demand have picked up significantly for BTC over the past few days and will now continue to dictate if BTC can establish $90,000 as support,” the analysts added.

Meanwhile, these forecasts add to the list of growing bullish bets on Bitcoin’s price, credibly confirming a sentiment shared in the previous US Crypto News publication.

Despite strong prospects for more Bitcoin price gains, some analysts suggest that investors should temper their optimism.

Among them is Innokenty Isers, the Chief Executive Officer at Paybis Exchange, who says that the cryptocurrency market may face more turbulence in the coming months due to several macroeconomic factors.

According to Isers, the world’s leading cryptocurrency could face more stiff resistance moving forward. In the last two months, the uncertainty around the tariff war triggered an unusual concern for investors as many decided to temporarily steer clear of more volatile assets like Bitcoin.

Moreover, the Federal Reserve (Fed) has spotlighted the inflationary risks the tariff war may introduce.

Nevertheless, Isers noted clear indications of sustained accumulation of BTC by institutional investors and market whales.