FX.co ★ Bitcoin Rises Over 1%

Bitcoin experienced a rise of over 1%, surpassing the 88,000 mark on Friday. This comes as traders anticipate a significant year-end recalibration, with more than $27 billion in cryptocurrency options contracts due to expire today. These expirations comprise $23.3 billion in Bitcoin options and $3.7 billion in Ethereum options. Even with the uptick, Bitcoin remains in a consolidation phase near its November lows, reflecting a cautious market sentiment. This sentiment has been on a downward trend since early October, following renewed concerns about US-China tariffs, which led to a sharp sell-off. Consequently, Bitcoin has declined by nearly 30% since early October and is poised to close the quarter with an approximately 22% loss, marking its most substantial quarterly downturn since the second quarter of 2022. That period was notably affected by the collapses of TerraUSD and Three Arrows Capital. In addition to Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies also recorded gains; Ether increased by more than 1%, while Solana rose by over 2%.