Efe Nail Saltık 
Analysts indicate that Bitcoin needs to hold above the $65,000 mark for continued upward movement, while Ether is facing pressure from a “sell-the-news” event.
Bitcoin Futures Expiry Impact
The Bitcoin price may drop to $63,000 on July 26 due to the expiry of over $3.9 billion worth of Bitcoin futures options. These options expired at 8:00 am UTC on Deribit, a top futures trading cryptocurrency exchange. This sets Bitcoin’s “max pain point” to $63,000, potentially leading to more downward pressure.
Periods close to options expiry often see increased price volatility in the crypto markets. While the max pain point indicates the price at which most options contracts would expire worthless, it does not guarantee that the underlying asset will fall to that price.
Ether ETF Sell-The-News Event
A total of $5.48 billion worth of cryptocurrency options expired on Deribit, including $1.57 billion in Ethereum options. Despite the launch of the first spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on July 23, Ether has struggled to gain momentum. As of 11:02 am UTC, Ether is trading just below $3,250, down over 4.5% in the past week, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Bitfinex analysts attribute Ether’s sluggish price action to a sell-the-news event around Ether ETFs. They noted, “An Ethereum ETF sell-the-news effect is in motion. Global ETH open interest is down $1.17 billion after peaking on July 23, just before the launch of the product. A lot of futures and perpetual positions that were added in anticipation of the ETF launch driving the price up are now capitulating positions.”
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Bitcoin’s Key Support Level
Bitcoin needs to hold above the current $65,000 mark, which serves as a key support level, according to popular crypto analyst Rekt Capital. The analyst mentioned in a July 26 X post to his 483,000 followers, “The retest was successful. Bitcoin has confirmed $65,000 as support. Price will now continue to occupy the $65,000-$71,500 region (red).”
Positive Bitcoin ETF inflows could further contribute to Bitcoin’s momentum. United States-based spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded their second consecutive day of positive inflows, worth a cumulative $31.1 million on July 25, according to Farside Investors.
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