Bitcoin sees ‘quite healthy’ consolidation on $200M BTC options expiry day

Everything is bullish except the price on Friday as $200 million in options expire and attention focuses on corporate quarterly disclosures.  

Bitcoin (BTC) ranged around $48,000 on Friday as hopes of a bull run endured thanks to low supply and upcoming corporate disclosures.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

Anticipation builds for cross-crypto breakout

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD continuing to consolidate into Friday, with the latest options expiry now due.

The pair had made little progress since bouncing off $47,000 the day before, but bullish expectations among analysts were also firmly intact.

As Cointelegraph reported, these revolve around a “supply squeeze” driving prices up — a combination of increased demand while long-term holders already own almost 80% of the supply.

“Keep in mind alt supply, and ETF season ahead likely to be key drivers + disclosures,” trader Pentoshi noted as part of comments on the BTC price outlook.

Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe was similarly cool about current market activity.

“I don’t think you should worry about the market consolidating here. Quite healthy,” he summarized on the day. 

“Altcoins still rocking. Great months to come in crypto.”

A look at buy and sell levels on major exchange Binance confirmed resistance beginning at $48,600, this having crept lower during the consolidation. Buy interest, meanwhile, still lay at $44,000.

BTC/USD buy and sell levels (Binance) as of Sept. 17. Source: Material Indicators

“Bullish but cautious”

Calmer conditions on derivatives platforms likewise cooled concerns over a repeat of last week’s major sell-off. 

When Bitcoin lost $10,000 in a single day, overleveraged trading saw a wipe-out, and leverage has since stayed considerably lower.

Slightly positive funding rates suggest that the market is much better positioned for sustainable upside — bullish, but without irrationality.

“Traders in Bitcoin futures markets remain reasonably bullish with a positive funding rate returning to perpetual swap contracts,” Yann Allemann and Jan Happel, co-founders of on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, commented on an accompanying chart. 

“Note how funding rates are positive, but not up to the same level as before the $10k sell-off last week The Bitcoin market is bullish, but cautious.”

Bitcoin futures funding rates annotated chart. Source: Yann & Jan/Twitter