Bitcoin (BTC) could experience significant price swings heading into the weekend as options contracts worth billions of dollars tied to the cryptocurrency are set to expire on Friday. The quarterly expiry on crypto options exchange Deribit comprised over 81,000 call options worth $2.24 billion and 60,000 put options worth $1.73 billion. Market makers, who provide liquidity to an order book by creating buy and sell orders, are often forced to hedge their short gamma exposure by purchasing the cryptocurrency in the spot or futures market, which could bring more upside volatility. Liquidity conditions have worsened, making it hard for traders to execute large deals without causing price movements. At press time, bitcoin changed hands near $28,650, a 1% gain on the day.

(By Omkar Godbole)