Bitcoin (BTC) price was still testing support at $10,000 on Aug. 27 as all eyes began focusing on the upcoming futures expiration set for Friday.
Market visualization. Source: Coin360
Bitcoin price retests five-figure support
Data from Coin360 showed a fresh dip for BTC/USD over the past 24 hours, with markets dropping from local highs of $10,400 to bounce at around $10,100.
Bitcoin remains down around 6% versus the same time last week, having reversed all but 6% of its monthly gains which briefly saw the largest cryptocurrency pass $12,000.
Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360
Now, commentators expect Friday’s CME futures expiration to impact on markets. As the Twitter account known as Skew noted on Tuesday, the deadline will see approximately 50% of open interest expire.
As Cointelegraph reported, futures expiration tends to spark volatility for Bitcoin, but different events have historically behaved in different ways. Skew, however, suggested appetites among investors were now more bearish.
“Some of those positions will be rolled but overall institutional investors have been looking elsewhere in August!” he commented alongside a chart of CME’s official statistics.
Others also highlighted the correlation between futures and market activity.
Nonetheless, Bitcoin’s solid network data would serve as a reminder that the cryptocurrency is an increasingly safe bet. Overall market volatility fell to an eight-week low this week, Forbes reported on Aug. 25 citing data from Blockforce Capital and Digital Assets Data.
On Monday, Cointelegraph noted alternative explanations for current Bitcoin price behavior.
Altcoins continue lackluster trading
Altcoins meanwhile recorded yet another day of moderate losses. As BTC/USD fell, so too did the majority of major tokens, with Binance Coin (BNB) faring worst after shedding 5.7%.
Ether (ETH), the largest altcoin by market cap, broadly matched Bitcoin’s 2.6% dip, while XRP and Litecoin (LTC) managed to stem their losses.
Ether 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360
Bitcoin SV (BSV) fell 4.4%, so far avoiding concerns it could suffer as a result of its main proponent, Craig Wright, losing a giant $5 billion court case this week.
The overall cryptocurrency market cap stood at $263 billion on Tuesday, with Bitcoin’s share totalling 68.9%.