Bitcoin gains $1.5K in under an hour as BTC price erases days of downtrend
Bitcoin (BTC), which enjoyed an early Christmas season flourish, saw its price rise to $48,000 on December 31.
BTC/USD 1-hour candle charts (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView
Options expire
Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView data showed that BTC/USD gained abruptly by more than $1,500 in an hour on Friday.
The move was a refreshing contrast to the downtrend that had been evident for several days. It also gave an indication of what might happen in a market with less liquidity than usual over the holiday period.
Futures + option expiry
— December 31, 2021, IamNomad (@IamNomad).
The December Bitcoin options expiry event was worth nearly $6 billion and could have provided the quick relief traders claimed. This traditionally pressures BTC price action before.
An earlier survey conducted by the Bitcoin Twitter account in December revealed that most participants expected BTC/USD above $55,000 at the expiry.
Survey on Bitcoin Twitter Source: Twitter
Cointelegraph reported that there are growing expectations that institutions will play a greater role in the ownership of Bitcoin beginning next month.
Coinbase Pro, a professional trading platform, saw nearly 10,000 BTC leave its books within 24 hours of the uptick.
Altcoins are the next to receive relief
Altcoins saw volatility on Bitcoin as a constant and took advantage of it to reverse some losses.
Related: Bitcoin price will crush BCH and BSV in 2021
Ether (ETH), which is the largest altcoin in market capitalization, was traded at $3,800 at the time. It’s still down 7.2% over seven days, but below $4,000, and it’s currently trading at about $3,800.
BITSTAMP: ETH/USD 1-hour candle charts Source: TradingView
At the time of writing, the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capital saw gains between 1.5% to 4%.

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