Bitcoin starts Thursday between roughly $84,000 and $87,000, after a strong week that pushed it back above $80,000 for the first time in a while. The next few days will test whether that rally holds up. Three events matter most right now. Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet at the White House today. About $18 billion in Bitcoin and Ether options expire on Friday. And BitMEX, the exchange that invented the perpetual swap, stopped trading this week after 11 years.
This article covers what happened, why it matters, and what to watch before the weekend.
Where the crypto market stands right now
Bitcoin had a big week. As of Wednesday it was trading around $86,000, up about 14% over the past seven days according to 24/7 Wall St. Even with that jump, it is still slightly down for the year.
Wednesday was choppy. Investing.com reported Bitcoin briefly above $87,000 during the session. Benzinga had it down about 2.4% near $84,100 at a different point in the day. A swing of $3,000 in one session tells you traders are nervous about what comes next.
Here is a quick look at the major assets, based on figures reported September 23:
| Asset | Approx. price | Weekly change |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | $84,000 to $86,500 | +14% |
| Ethereum (ETH) | $2,660 to $2,750 | +16% |
| Solana (SOL) | ~$118 | +23% |
| XRP | $1.50 to $1.57 | +20% |
| Zcash (ZEC) | ~$1,520 | +32% |
Prices move quickly, so check a live tracker before making any decisions.
Ethereum’s longer trend stands out. Benzinga notes ETH has climbed about 75% in three months, from around $1,510 to $2,650. Bitcoin has had a harder time over that same period.
The Trump-Xi summit: why crypto traders are watching
Trump and Xi meet in Washington today, their second summit this year. The agenda includes trade, rare earth minerals, artificial intelligence, and Taiwan.
Crypto traders have a reason to be careful. After the May 2026 meeting, Bitcoin fell below $77,000 within days and lost almost 5% over the week, according to 24/7 Wall St. Markets had been hopeful going in and were let down.
There is also a newer angle. BeInCrypto reports that China now plays a role in Middle East diplomacy. Saudi Arabia reportedly asked Beijing for help with the Houthis, and Iran has sent ceasefire terms through Qatar. That links the summit to oil prices, and oil has been a major factor for risk assets lately.
Oil has been high this month. 24/7 Wall St. puts crude near $107 after a steep monthly rise. Earlier this week, as Saudi shipments through the Strait of Hormuz recovered, WTI slipped toward $98 and Brent toward $102. Lower oil helps ease inflation worries, and that tends to support assets like Bitcoin. CoinDesk partly credited Zcash’s latest gain to falling oil prices.
What this means for you: A positive trade or diplomatic headline could push prices up. A disappointing result could bring a repeat of May. Some analysts suggest holding current positions instead of opening new ones before the summit, since Bitcoin has usually held up better than smaller altcoins when sentiment drops.
$18 billion in options expire Friday
This is the main technical event of the week. On Friday, September 25 at 08:00 UTC, about $15.9 billion in Bitcoin options and $2.1 billion in Ether options expire on Deribit, per CoinDesk. It is one of the largest quarterly settlements of the year.
Three numbers help explain it:
- Put/call ratio of 0.69. More traders bet on prices rising (calls) than falling (puts).
- Max pain at $75,000. This is the price where the most options would expire worthless. It sits well below where Bitcoin trades now.
- 37% of open interest disappears. Deribit’s outstanding Bitcoin options positions will drop by more than a third in one day.
About 55% of the $9.4 billion in call options are currently in the money. Most puts are close to worthless.
This matters beyond the traders who hold these contracts. Deribit CEO Luuk Strijers said dealer hedging of short call positions likely helped push Bitcoin from $80,000 toward $87,000. Market makers who sold those calls had to buy Bitcoin to stay hedged as the price went up. After the options expire, that buying stops.
That doesn’t mean Bitcoin will fall to $75,000. Max pain is a weak forecasting tool. It does mean one source of support goes away this weekend, and prices could get more volatile while the market finds a new range.
BitMEX shuts down after 11 years
BitMEX stopped trading, deposits, and new positions at 04:00 UTC on Tuesday, September 23, CoinDesk reports. Parent company HDR Global Trading first announced the plan in July after a strategic review.
It’s hard to overstate how much BitMEX shaped crypto trading. Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo, and Samuel Reed founded it in 2014, and it popularized the perpetual swap. That product is now the most popular crypto derivative, with around $50 trillion in yearly trading volume. BitMEX lost market share over time in the very market it built.
If you still have funds on BitMEX: withdrawals are still open, but deposits are closed. Verified users who leave balances on the platform will pay a monthly fee of 1% annualized or $50, whichever is higher. Withdraw soon if you have money there.
Bitcoin Cash jumps on CME futures news
The biggest single-asset move this week came from Bitcoin Cash. On Tuesday, CME Group said it will list futures for Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Uniswap (UNI) on October 19, 2026.
BCH rose 14% in the first hour and ended the session up about 27%, according to The Defiant. Trading volume more than doubled. Bitcoin SV rose 20% along with it. Uniswap briefly jumped 11% but finished up only 5.4%.
Why does a futures listing matter so much? CME products are what regulated institutions use. In the past, a CME listing has often come before other institutional products, such as ETFs. Some reports also point to Grayscale looking at an ETF conversion for BCH, though that isn’t confirmed.
Be careful here. Big moves on one headline often fade. Uniswap gave back most of its gain within hours, which shows how fast that can happen.
Institutional money keeps coming in
Beyond price, institutions stayed busy this week.
ETF inflows are strong. Spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $1.71 billion over the first part of the week, their best week since late August, per Investing.com. Monday alone brought in close to $1 billion. Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) also reported more Bitcoin purchases.
Tokenization is growing. The SEC announced an exemption allowing tokenized stocks to be offered on blockchains. A lot happened around that:
- Blockchain.com partnered with the NYSE to give users access to tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs (The Block).
- MoonPay agreed to buy SEC-registered broker North Capital for $60 million in stock to support tokenized real-world assets (CoinDesk).
- Canada’s six largest banks are working together on a tokenized deposit system.
Stablecoins are becoming mainstream. Visa data shows the share of people willing to use stablecoins rises from 36% to 56% when bank-level protections are in place. Coinbase now lets users borrow USDC against Bitcoin at fixed rates. BlackRock also said AI agents may soon use stablecoins to pay for computing power and data.
Regulation is mixed. The CLARITY Act, a proposed crypto market structure law, has stalled in Congress. Institutional demand has held up anyway. On a related note, Senate Banking Democrats have asked for a hearing on prediction markets, while Republicans met separately with Kalshi.
Other headlines worth knowing
- Hut 8 won Poolin’s Texas data centers with a $140 million bid, as miners keep expanding into AI and high-performance computing.
- Galaxy Digital added $100 million in Sky’s sUSDS tokens to its treasury and bought SKY tokens.
- FTX and Alameda-linked wallets moved about $75 million in ETH to market maker Wintermute. The reason isn’t confirmed, but large transfers like this can signal possible selling.
- The XRP Ledger is retrying an upgrade that lets banks split payment and compliance roles. It could go live around October 5.
- Solana is testing an upgrade that could cut transaction finality from 12.8 seconds to about 150 milliseconds.
- Chainalysis found that crypto economic activity dropped only 1.6% year over year, even though total market value fell by $2.1 trillion. Usage held up much better than prices did.
What to watch next
The next 72 hours will show whether this week’s rally was real demand or mostly short-term positioning.
- Summit headlines today. Look for news on tariffs, AI chip exports, and anything related to Iran or oil.
- Friday’s options expiry at 08:00 UTC. Expect more volatility afterward as hedging pressure goes away.
- ETF flows. If inflows stay strong after expiry, it suggests buyers are there beyond derivatives traders.
- Oil prices. Lower crude has helped risk assets. A spike would hurt.
- Bitcoin at $80,000. It was resistance and is now expected support. A clean break below it would weaken the bullish case.
Key takeaways
- Bitcoin is trading between $84,000 and $87,000 after a 14% weekly gain, but it’s still slightly down for 2026.
- The Trump-Xi summit today is the main macro event. Crypto sold off after the last meeting in May.
- About $18 billion in BTC and ETH options expire Friday, which removes 37% of Deribit’s Bitcoin open interest.
- BitMEX has stopped trading. Users should withdraw their funds soon to avoid monthly fees.
- Bitcoin Cash rose about 27% after CME said it will list BCH futures on October 19.
- ETF inflows, tokenized stocks, and stablecoin adoption point to steady institutional interest.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Bitcoin going up this week?
A. Strong spot ETF inflows, lower oil prices, and dealer hedging before Friday’s options expiry all helped push Bitcoin from about $80,000 toward $87,000.
What happens to Bitcoin after a large options expiry?
A. Nobody can say for sure. Big expiries often lead to more volatility as hedging positions unwind. Prices sometimes move toward or away from the max pain level, but it isn’t a reliable prediction.
Is BitMEX closed for good?
A. Yes. Trading ended September 23, 2026. Withdrawals are still available during the wind-down, and balances left on the platform will be charged monthly fees.
When do CME Bitcoin Cash futures launch?
A. CME Group plans to list Bitcoin Cash and Uniswap futures on October 19, 2026.
