Bitcoin Rally Slows as $15.6 Billion Options Expiry Hits—XRP and Solana Keep Climbing — SkimNews
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- Bitcoin fell about 0.9% to roughly $83,600 on Friday, retracing from an intraday high near $87,000 that broke it out of a weeks-long $75,000–$81,000 range, though the daily chart still shows a bullish golden cross.
- Deribit saw $15.6 billion in Bitcoin options expire on Friday, driving open interest down 14.39% and 24-hour trading volume down 13.68%, with liquidations nearly balanced ($161.96 million longs vs. $156.1 million shorts).
- Spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $299.09 million on Friday—smaller than single-day hauls earlier in the week—a sign the initial burst of institutional buying is cooling rather than accelerating.
- XRP rose 4.37% over 24 hours and 15.45% over the week to roughly $1.58, supported by $1.6 billion in ETF inflows over a nine-day streak in late August as institutional interest continues to build.
- Solana gained 3.36% on the day and 9.33% over seven days to around $119.84, buoyed by the Alpenglow upgrade clearing a validator governance vote and ongoing inflows to Fidelity, Grayscale, and VanEck spot Solana ETFs.
- Federal Reserve signals initially cushioned crypto after the September 16 hike to 3.75%–4%, but Chair Kevin Warsh's dot plot projecting only one more hike and Governor Michael Barr's September 23 remark that "further policy adjustments are likely needed" pushed October hike odds to roughly 75% on CME FedWatch.
- Total crypto market cap sits at $2.87 trillion, down from the $3 trillion-plus level hit earlier in the week, with the Fear and Greed Index easing to 72 from a peak of 79.
Why it matters: The $15.6 billion options expiry is a routine mechanics-driven reset, not a trend break—balanced liquidations and a bullish golden cross suggest the pullback is a pause. But with October Fed hike odds now near 75% and core PCE inflation at a near four-year high of 3.4%, the September 30 PCE print and October 2 jobs report could reset rate expectations and either revive or stall the crypto rally heading into Q4.
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