Bitcoin Falls To $109K As Traders Brace for Record BTC Options Expiry, Mantle Defies Bear Market, Eyes New All-Time High

The Bitcoin price drop has continued to get steeper, with BTC dropping to a three-week low at $109k. The drop comes as traders are preparing for massive volatility as a record $17 billion in BTC options are set to expire on Friday, September 26. 

While the drop of BTC reflects the broader crypto market sentiment, Mantle (MNT) has been a standout performer. With a +46% increase over the last seven days, the price of Mantle has set a new all-time high of $1.88, but looks to climb even higher. 

Will the Bitcoin (BTC) Options Expire Intensify the Decline?

Over the last week, Bitcoin (BTC) has been on a steady decline, forming lower lows. The Bitcoin value has declined by more than 7% over the last week, and has now lost the $110k support level, trading around $109,500. 

The decline for Bitcoin could get worse as 146,000 BTC options contracts with a notional value of approximately $17 billion are about to expire on Friday, September 26, Deribit reported. 

It is a significant expiry event, as it is the end of the month and the end of the third quarter, so there might be volatility on spot markets, which might worsen the already poor Bitcoin price performance.

With the options expiry, there are bearish bets that the Bitcoin price could trade between $95,000 and $110,000, per laevitas.ch. If Bitcoin bulls fail to push the price above $110,000 level after the options expire, then there will be more sell options in excess of $1 billion. 

While it is uncertain how the Bitcoin price will react to the options expiry, it’s certain that there will be high volatility after $17+ billion reenters the market. However, analysts like Mister Crypto expect the selling pressure to ease after the expiry, predicting that a short squeeze will happen soon.

Mantle (MNT) Defies Bearish Market on Bybit Integration

Although the crypto market has experienced a notable downturn over the past week, Mantle (MNT) is one of the few cryptos that has remained bullish. The price of Mantle has increased by 4.8% in the last 24 hours and by over 45% in the last 30 days.

As a result of the price pump, MNT has surged to a new all-time high at $1.88. The price pump is inspired by the integration of MNT into the Bybit exchange. As a result of the integration, Mantle has now become the heart of the Bybit ecosystem. MNT now connects all product lines of Bybit and works as a strategic asset for the exchange users.

The announcement has also sparked a 1,400% increase in the number of daily active wallets on Mantle in the past 30 days. It is this increase in network activity that has been behind the MNT price pump. 

New All-Time High for Mantle?

The rally of Mantle counter to Bitcoin’s negative price action is a significant indicator of its underlying strength. The Mantle being integrated deeper into the Bybit ecosystem, Deg_Ape, has predicted that the rally could push $MNT as high as $2.5 for a new ATH.