Bitcoin Rises. Traders Are Betting on a 5% Crypto Christmas Rally. — Barrons.com
By Jack DentonBitcoin and other cryptocurrencies drifted higher to start the week, but the largest digital asset remained below the $90,000 milestone — even as traders bet on a rally coming this week.The price of Bitcoin rose 1% over the past 24 hours to $89,750, remaining below the key $90,00 level, a mark the largest crypto by market value has not consistently held since early December. The outlook for Bitcoin remains muted by multiple measures."Bitcoin...indicates a slower falling rate initially, or the start of a more horizontal development. The currency has support at points $86,000 and resistance at points $93,400. The currency is assessed as technically slightly negative for the short term," wrote investing platform Investtech based on an analysis of technical market indicators for Bitcoin.Traders, however, see a price gift under the Christmas tree.Evidence in the Bitcoin options market — where traders bet on specific future price moves — suggests bullish sentiment with preparations for a price pop specifically by Christmas.There is a concentration of "calls" — contracts that pay out if prices rise to a specific level or "strike price" by a certain expiry date — for Bitcoin at $94,000 by Thursday, based on open interest levels on the exchange Deribit.The $94,000 level is the most popular strike price by open interest of any option expiring on Thursday, with overall more calls than puts, which are bearish bets on a lower strike price, in the Deribit options market.Beyond Bitcoin, Ethereum — the second-largest crypto — gained 1.5% to above $3,000, while XRP also edged up, rising 0.6%. Smaller tokens, or altcoins, were more mixed, with Ripple down less than 1%, and Solana and Dogecoin each gaining less than 1%.Write to Jack Denton at [email protected] content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.