The derivatives market likely played a role in pushing bitcoin‘s spot market price to a level not seen in almost two weeks.
Bitcoin’s price Friday jumped over $4,600 within a 24-hour period, settling a bit as of press time, at $56,996.
For most of this week, bitcoin’s price struggled to make gains.
The options expiration may have caused some traders to return to the spot market Friday as buyers pushed the price up, noted Nate Cox, the chief investment officer of crypto brokerage Two Prime.
Based on market data aggregated by Skew, options expiring May 21 are positions such that there’s only a 38% chance bitcoin will reach $60,000 on that date, with a 53% probability of $56,000 and a 74% probability of BTC over $50,000.
After hitting fresh record highs several times this week, ether was struggling to make gains Friday, a stark contrast from the bitcoin price pop.
Ultimately, ether trading differently from bitcoin is probably a temporary condition, according to Sit.
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