Quick take:
- Bitcoin Miners’ Position Index has hit an 8 year high
- According to the CEO of CryptoQuant, miners have been selling their Bitcoin since BTC hit $42k
- The selling is ongoing and the main reason BTC is bearish at least in the short term
- Over 116k BTC options expire this Friday and could bring additional selling pressure
- However, institutions are still buying Bitcoin and the $30k support might just hold
Bitcoin miners have been realizing profits since BTC hit $42k. This is according to the analysis done by the CEO of CryptoQuant, Ki Young Ju, who also pointed out that the Bitcoin miners’ position index has hit an 8 year high. Mr. Ju went on to point out that these two factors are the reasons he is currently leaning bearish on Bitcoin at least in the short term.
His analysis can be found below together with a chart he shared demonstrating the high Bitcoin miners’ position index.
BTC Miners’ Position Index hit the 8-year high. They’ve been moving an unusual amount of Bitcoins lately. It seems they’re continuously realizing profits since 42k. This is one of the reasons why I keep my bearish bias.
116k Bitcoin Options Expire this Week
In addition to Bitcoin miners selling their bags, the price of BTC is facing another hurdle in the form of 116,000 Bitcoin options expiring this week. The high number of Bitcoin options expiring was first highlighted by the team at Skew via the tweet below. Such a high number of Bitcoin options expiring could be a catalyst towards additional volatility for BTC heading into the new month of February.
116k #bitcoins options are set to expire next week pic.twitter.com/HR2q8pCPDY
— skew (@skewdotcom) January 21, 2021
Microstrategy and Grayscale Continue Adding Bitcoin to Their Reserves
However, the selling by Bitcoin miners and the high number of BTC options expiring this week, seem not to faze the ongoing accumulation of Bitcoin by Wall Street companies. To begin with, Grayscale has added 995 BTC to its bags in the last 24 hours and a cool 14,349 Bitcoin in the last 7 days. The latest purchases bring Grayscale’s bags of Bitcoin to 647,150 BTC.
In the case of Microstrategy, the company announced on the 22nd of this month that it had purchased 214 Bitcoins for $10 million. This brings their total holdings to 70,784 Bitcoins.
Microstrategy and Grayscale are the tip of the iceberg of the ongoing Bitocin accumulation by Wall Street firms adding BTC to their treasuries. Therefore, the Bitcoin sold by miners and the anticipated volatility due to BTC options expiring this week, might not have the anticipated downward effect. As a result, Bitcoin might just close the week above the crucial $30k – $32k support zone.
