BTC Nears $113K as Dominance Rises to 59%, A Two-Week High

Bitcoin’s (BTC) price recovery has gathered traction in the lead up to Friday’s U.S. jobs report.

The leading cryptocurrency by market value rose to $113,000, its highest level since Aug. 28, and recorded its first higher high since the mid August all time peak of $124,000, according to CoinDesk data.

In technical terms, a higher high signals a potential bullish reversal in trend as the price surpasses its previous short term peak.

Bitcoin’s market dominance, representing its share of the total crypto market, also climbed to a two week high of nearly 59%, up from a low of 57.5%. It points to renewed capital inflows into bitcoin, a shift from recent market dynamics characterized by whales rotating out of BTC and into ether.

Max pain-led bounce?

BTC’s price bounce from Asian session lows may have been catalyzed by the max pain theory, which suggests that prices gravitate toward the max pain level as options expiry nears.

Bitcoin BTC$112,213.29 options worth $3.28 billions expired at 8:00 UTC on Deribit, with max pain at $112,000. It is the price level where options buyers suffer the biggest loss.

According to the theory, as expiry nears, option sellers, typically institutions with ample capital supply, look to push the spot price toward the max pain point in a bid to inflict maximum pain on option buyers. They do so by trading the underlying asset in the spot/futures market.

BTC’s price rose above $112,000 early Friday in the lead up to the expiry, aligning with the max pain theory almost perfectly for the first time. The max pain theory is widely discussed and considered valid in traditional markets, where it is used to anticipate price movements near options expiry. However, some crypto pundits remain uncertain about whether the theory operates effectively in the bitcoin market.

Traders are now awaiting the U.S. jobs report at 8:30 ET for the next potential driver.