Bitcoin bulls aim to hold this week’s BTC gains leading into Friday’s $675M options expiry

While the U.S. Federal Reserve (FED) continues to monitor the overheated economy, the most likely scenario is further interest rate hikes to curb inflation. The unintended consequence is the heightened government debt cost, creating a bullish environment for scarce assets such as commodities, stock market and cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin’s price gain practically extinguished bears expectation for a sub-$21,500 options expiry on Feb. 17, so their bets are unlikely to pay off as the deadline approaches.

Bitcoin investors’ primary concern is the possibility of further impacts from regulators following the

Bears might benefit from the impact of regulation

Bitcoin bulls need to push the price above $23,000 on Feb. 17 to secure a potential $155 million profit. On the other hand, the bears’ best-case scenario requires a 3.5% dump below $22,000 to maximize their gains.

Considering the negative pressure from regulators, bears have good odds of flipping the table and avoiding a $60 million or larger loss on Feb. 17.

More importantly, looking at a broader time frame, there is little room for the FED to slow down the economy without spiraling the debt interest repayments out of control.

Friday will be an interesting display of strength between the short-term impact of a hostile crypto regulation environment versus Bitcoin’s long-term scarcity and censorship resistance benefits.

Bitcoin (BTC) price gained 6.3% just two days after reaching $21,370 on Feb. 13, which was the lowest level seen in more than three weeks. The price recovery can be partially explained by the Feb. 14 U.S. Consumer price index data displaying a 6.4% increase in year-over-year inflation in January.