Bitcoin Pulls Back as $15.6 Billion Options Expiry Hits; XRP and Solana Lead Gains

Bitcoin fell roughly 0.9% on Friday, trading near $83,600 after reaching an intraday high close to $87,000 earlier in the session. The dip follows a brief rally that broke the $75,000‑$81,000 range that had constrained the price for weeks.

Technical outlook remains bullish

Despite the pullback, the daily chart still shows a bullish configuration. The 50‑day moving average sits above the 200‑day moving average, forming a classic “golden cross.”

Options expiry and market mechanics

Deribit saw $15.6 billion of Bitcoin options expire on Friday. Dealers often unwind hedges after such expiries, which can cause short‑term price moves without altering the longer‑term trend. Open interest and 24‑hour volume both dropped, down 14.39% and 13.68% respectively. Liquidations were relatively balanced, with $162 million in longs versus $156 million in shorts.

Macro backdrop

The Federal Reserve raised its policy rate by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75%‑4.0% on September 16, its first hike since 2023, while continuing short‑term Treasury purchases. Subsequent comments from Fed officials and a core PCE inflation reading of 3.4% have pushed odds of an October hike to about 75% on CME’s FedWatch tool and 68.5% on Myriad Markets.

ETF flows and market sentiment

Spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $299 million in net inflows on Friday, a slowdown from earlier in the week. Total crypto market capitalization stands at $2.87 trillion, down from just above $3 trillion earlier in the week. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index eased to 72, remaining in “greed” territory.

Altcoin performance

Most top‑10 assets moved lower alongside Bitcoin. Ethereum was flat, BNB slipped 0.81%, and Tron and Hyperliquid fell. XRP and Solana were the notable outliers:

• XRP rose 4.37% on the day and 15.45% over the past week, trading near $1.58 with a market cap of about $99 billion. XRP ETFs have logged a nine‑day inflow streak totaling $1.6 billion.
• Solana gained 3.36% on the day and 9.33% over seven days, trading around $119.84 and a market cap of roughly $70 billion. The network’s Alpenglow upgrade, which reduces transaction finality to ~150 ms, has received strong validator support, and spot Solana ETFs continue to see inflows.

Upcoming data points

Bitcoin’s next catalyst could be the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation report on September 30 and the jobs report on October 2, both of which may influence rate expectations heading into Q4.