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Will Bitcoin price drop below $70K as $2.2B BTC options expiry looms?

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Bitcoin expiring options.

Bitcoin price fell to near $70,000 on Friday following a sharp rebound the previous day. A looming BTC options expiry event is now keeping investors on edge as the market anticipates potential volatility.

Summary

  • Bitcoin price has given up a portion of its gains from this week.
  • Over $2.22 billion worth of options set to expire today have spurred concerns around volatility. 
  • Bitcoin technicals remain bullish despite the current drawdown.

According to data from crypto.news, Bitcoin (BTC) price fell 4.5% to an intraday low of $70,177 on Friday morning Asian time before stabilizing around $70,400 at press time. The bellwether pulled back after facing rejection around $74,000, a key resistance level it had failed to break for over a month. 

Bitcoin price fell as investors began booking profits after climbing over 15% in the past 5 days. 

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This came amid a broader risk-off environment triggered by the ongoing war between the U.S. and Iran, which has led energy prices to soar to multi-month highs. The military escalation has also triggered capital rotation into traditional safe-haven assets, which have seen relatively better performance amid the geopolitical uncertainty. 

Today, investor sentiment is being kept in check as $2.22 billion worth of Bitcoin option expiry is set to be settled on the Deribit exchange at 8:00 a.m. UTC. Over 31,500 Bitcoin open contracts are set to expire.

At press time, the put-to-call ratio was at 1.72, meaning put options or traders betting on Bitcoin to go lower far surpass the calls that are betting on a rise. The maximum pain level for BTC or the price at which most option contracts expire worthless stood at $69,000, just $1,400 short of the current spot price. 

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Bitcoin expiring options.
Bitcoin expiring options | Source: Deribit

The maximum pain level, also known as the strike price, tends to pull spot prices towards the center around expiry. Therefore, there remains a high risk that Bitcoin price could pull back towards the $69,000 mark as options reach expiry. 

Bitcoin has failed to hold above $70,000 six times since the start of February, and losing this key psychological support once again could spook short-term traders who were betting on the current recovery rally.

Despite the concerns surrounding the massive options expiry today, BTC price charts have not yet shown signs of a breakdown. 

On the Bitcoin/USDT 24-hour chart, momentum indicators still portrayed a positive outlook at least in the short term. 

Will Bitcoin price drop below $70K as $2.2B BTC options expiry looms? - 1
Bitcoin/USDT 24-hour price chart — March 6 | Source: crypto.news

Notably, the MACD line was pointing upwards, suggesting growing buying pressure for the bulls in comparison to the selling pressure exerted by bears. At the same time, the Relative Strength Index has also formed a bullish divergence with the price action. 

For now, bulls will be eyeing $72,000 as the next major resistance level to claim, a break above which could likely end its downtrend today. 

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On the contrary, a move below the $70,000 support could pull BTC price to $69,000 and successively as low as $60,000 as the broader structure remains confined within a bearish flag pattern, which is considered one of the most negative formations in technical analysis.

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.

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Crypto World

Morgan Stanley Sets Bitcoin ETF Fee at Ultra-Low 0.14%

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Morgan Stanley Sets Bitcoin ETF Fee at Ultra-Low 0.14%

Investment bank Morgan Stanley is seeking to launch its spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund at a 0.14% fee, which would make it the cheapest in the US market and potentially force rivals to cut fees to stay competitive.

The 0.14% fee, proposed in Morgan Stanley’s latest S-1 registration statement on Friday, would be one basis point below the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF (BTC), currently the cheapest in the US market, and 11 basis points below the BlackRock-issued iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT).

“Big move here. They are not messing around,” Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart said, predicting that the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) is “likely to launch in early April.”

Source: James Seyffart

Fellow Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said the low fee means that none of Morgan Stanley’s roughly 16,000 financial advisors — which manage $6.2 trillion in client assets — would feel conflicted in recommending the product to its clients.

Given that spot Bitcoin ETFs track the price movements of Bitcoin (BTC), Morgan Stanley’s ultra-low fee could spark a fresh fee war in the $83 billion market, putting immediate pressure on rivals to cut costs or risk losing assets.

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Regulatory approval would make Morgan Stanley the first bank to issue a spot Bitcoin ETF, expanding access to Bitcoin exposure for millions of its high-net-worth clients.

“They are the ultimate gatekeepers of rich boomer money,” Balchunas added.

Morgan Stanley previously selected Coinbase and Bank of New York Mellon as the proposed custodians for its Bitcoin ETF.

Morgan Stanley seeking suite of crypto ETFs, banking charter

Morgan Stanley, previously one of the more crypto-hesitant Wall Street firms, filed for the spot Bitcoin ETF in the first week of January, along with a Solana (SOL) ETF.

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Related: Bitcoin traders see 53% odds of sub-$66K BTC by April 24 

It then filed papers for a staked Ether (ETH) ETF later that week, and by the end of the month, the bank appointed one of Morgan Stanley’s longest-standing executives, Amy Oldenburg, to lead its digital asset team.

Source: James Seyffart

Morgan Stanley also applied for a national trust banking charter on Feb. 18, seeking to custody certain digital assets and execute purchases, sales and swaps for clients in addition to staking services.

In October, before the investment bank adopted its institutional crypto strategy, it recommended a 2% to 4% allocation to crypto portfolios for investors. It also allowed its financial advisors to recommend crypto funds to clients with individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and 401(k)s.

Magazine: Bitcoin may face hard fork over any attempt to freeze Satoshi’s coins

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