Bitcoin drops under $ 109,000 before a key deadline

Bitcoin briefly plunged under 109,000 dollars, recording a three -week lower. A few hours before the expiration of $ 22 billion in options, scheduled for this Friday, the pressure rises among investors. In a context of increased volatility and macroeconomic uncertainties, positions readjust in emergency. The Crypto market enters a decisive sequence, where each crossed level could amplify the movements to come.

Serial liquidations and a strategic withdrawal

The Bitcoin price won under $ 109,000, briefly reaching $ 108,700, its lowest level for more than three weeks. This drop caused instability on exchange platforms, resulting in the liquidation of more than $ 275 million in leveraging long positions.

Such a situation coincides with the approach of the monthly expiration of $ 22 billion in BTC options. This deadline exerts a particularly strong pressure on the traders, which try to reposition themselves in an emergency. Thus, they reduced their upward positions, signaling a mixed market feeling before the expiration of options.

Data from Binance and OKX platforms illustrate clearly the tactical adjustments on the market on the market:

• At Binance, the “Top Traders” reduced their long positions Tuesday and Wednesday, dropping the long/short ratio to 1.7 x, its lowest level in more than 30 days, before going up slightly to 1.9 x;

• At OKX, institutional investors have taken the opposite bet by massively strengthening their long positions, bringing the long/short ratio to 4.2 x Thursday, its highest level in two weeks;

• The sudden fall in the BTC under $ 109,000, however, surprised them, forcing them to reduce their lever in loss;

• The balance of power between the sales and purchase options is also closely monitored: if the BTC does not return above $ 110,000 this Friday morning, the sales options would take an estimated advantage of $ 1 billion on those of purchase.

This climate of tension reveals a market in full tactical recomposition in the very short term, dominated by nervousness around this major technical deadline.

Resilience signals

Beyond the immediate pressure exerted by derivatives, other indicators deliver a more nuanced reading of the current situation. Indeed, the premium of Bitcoin term contracts at two months, an indicator of the bullish or lower traders feeling, remains stable at 5 %, in a neutral zone between 5 %and 10 %.

This stability suggests a certain caution of institutional investors, but without general panic. Thus, on-chain data also reveals that open interest on derivative products remains robust, at 79 billion dollars, slightly decreased 3 % over two days. Some analysts expect relief from selling pressure after the expiration of options, emphasizing the recent market capacity to absorb shocks without structural rupture.

In parallel, another factor comes to qualify the down reading: net entries in the Bitcoin ETF. On Wednesday, listed products recorded $ 241 million in entries, a figure far from negligible in a context of volatility.

This flow suggests that probably institutional investors take advantage of the decline to reposition themselves in the medium term. Finally, on the Asia side, the TETH (USDT) in Yuan Offshore is currently exchanging with a premium of 0.3 % compared to the official USD/CNY rate, which indicates a neutrally upward demand for cryptos in China. Usually, a discount on this market would be interpreted as a risk leak signal, which is not currently the case.

These signals of relative stability and strategic positioning could indicate that the market anticipates a rebound after the expiration of options, or even a redistribution of cards if the $ 110,000 threshold is crossed in the coming hours. However, the American macroeconomic context, including the threat of a government shutdown and uncertainties on the labor market, feeds an underlying volatility which makes any projection delicate. In this climate, this Friday day could prove to be decisive: a fence above $ 110,000 would give a clear advantage to the bruises that bet on an explosive month of October, while a failure would extend the technical pressure.