The Bitcoin (BTC) price has come crashing down by more than 4% in the last 24 hours, losing all of the gains made after Grayscale’s victory over the US SEC earlier this week. As of press time, Bitcoin is trading at $26,035 with a market cap of $507 billion.

Bitcoin bears continue to have an upper hand with the US SEC delaying the decision on seven spot Bitcoin ETF applications from BlackRock, Fidelity, Invesco, and others. The BTC price failed to break past the 200-day moving average of $27,500, which serves as an important resistance on the upside.

On the downside, the Bitcoin price seems to be ready to retest the support of $25,000 in the near term. During the Bitcoin price pump earlier this week, after the Grayscale victory, crypto analyst Ali Martinez had already cited the chances of BTC price manipulation. The recent price correction validates his theory.

Technical analysis alone can’t reveal the intricacies of market manipulation! That’s why a comprehensive approach, blending both on-chain and technical analysis, offers the deepest insights. https://t.co/1b8QmmmYvd pic.twitter.com/X0wJsQmmkR

— Ali (@ali_charts) August 31, 2023

What’s Next for Bitcoin, $690 Million worth of BTC Options to Expire?

Later today, a total of 26,000 Bitcoin options are set to expire as per the data from Greeks.live. The Put Call Ratio, which compares the number of put options (betting on a price decrease) to call options (betting on a price increase), is at 0.50.

The “max pain point” is the price at which most options contracts will expire worthless for the holders, and in this case, it’s $27,000. The total value of all these options contracts, also known as the notional value, is $690 million.

On the technical chart, Bitcoin continues to show weakness. The month of September could prove to be quite bearish for Bitcoin. As we can see in the below technical chart, the BTC price could consolidate at $26,000 for some more time, before a possible breakdown.

There’s a difference between bias and conviction. It took 2 days for $BTC to retrace this news and I was very vocal about it. Many still grasping narratives at this point. The sooner we can finish the correction the sooner we can go up. pic.twitter.com/jUUelEiSp7

— IncomeSharks (@IncomeSharks) August 31, 2023

On the other hand, analysts are not very hopeful for Bitcoin to make new 2023 highs this year. It will be interesting to see how BTC could perform going ahead.

I won’t be surprised to see #Bitcoin consolidate between $25,000 – $32,000 for the remainder of 2023. pic.twitter.com/2BihBPZaCJ

— Crypto Rover (@rovercrc) August 31, 2023

Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.

The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.