Bitcoin Falls Below $88K as $23.6B Options Expiry Looms
Bitcoin retreated below $88,000 on Tuesday after a short-lived surge to roughly $92,000, raising caution among market participants. The move comes days before the largest single-day Bitcoin options expiry on record — about $23.6 billion in notional value set to expire on Friday, Dec. 26 — a setup that has historically coincided with heightened intraday price swings and increased derivative activity.
The scale of the expiry matters because concentrated strike positions and dealer hedging can amplify directional pressure in spot markets, especially in thin liquidity conditions over the holiday week. Traders and risk desks are watching open interest, strike-level concentrations and funding rates closely; any sharp directional move could trigger stop-losses and additional liquidations. Market participants caution that volatility may rise until the expiry clears and liquidity normalizes.