MarketsShareShare this articleCopy link

Bitcoin caught between critical onchain support and an options showdown

Heavy supply concentration and large options positioning continue to suppress volatility and keep bitcoin range-bound.

By James Van Straten|Edited by Sheldon Reback May 26, 2026, 9:11 a.m. 2 min read[Make preferred on ](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q= Volume Weighted Cost Basis (Checkonchain)

What to know:

• Bitcoin rebounded from its 128-day moving average near $74,500
• It remains below key onchain resistance levels around $77,000, including the true market mean and short-term holder cost basis.
• Ahead of the $6.6 billion Deribit options expiry on May 29, large open interest at the $75,000 put and $80,000 call is incentivizing market makers to keep price action pinned within this range.
• More than 15% of bitcoin supply sits between $74,000 and $83,000.

The price of bitcoin BTC$76,856.32 has been closely tracking the 2026 realized price, currently around $76,200, according to Checkonchain, since the beginning of April.

The realized price is the average onchain acquisition cost of all bitcoin that last moved within a specific year. In other words, it reflects the aggregate cost basis of market participants from 2026, and some market participants see it as a more meaningful gauge than traditional psychological support or resistance price levels.

In February, when bitcoin plunged to nearly $60,000, the market found support close to the 2023 realized price, reinforcing the growing importance of these cohort cost-basis levels in shaping market structure.

This weekend, the largest cryptocurrency briefly dropped to $74,500 before rebounding from its 128-day moving average, another closely watched technical level.

At its current price, bitcoin is trading below two major onchain metrics clustered around $77,000: the true market mean and the short-term holder cost basis. Both levels are widely monitored as indicators of broader market sentiment and short-term positioning.

BTC Price + Key Levels (CheckonChain)Attention is also turning toward the May 29 options expiry on Deribit, where roughly $6.6 billion in open interest is set to expire.

The largest concentration of call options, about $600 million, sits at the $80,000 strike price. The largest put positioning is concentrated at $75,000, with around $377 million in open interest. Market makers and traders are incentivized to keep price action pinned between these levels as expiry approaches, contributing to the current period of compressed volatility.

Glassnode data shows that more than 15% of bitcoin’s circulating supply has been acquired between $74,000 and $83,000, highlighting just how compressed the current trading range has become and how much supply is concentrated around these levels.

URPD (Glassnode)

Bitcoin NewsMore For You

Hyperliquid takes a swing at Polymarket with macro outcome bets

By Sam Reynolds|Edited by Omkar Godbole2 hours agoThe decentralized exchange’s new HIP-4 product lets traders bet on offchain events like inflation and interest-rate decisions, using validators rather than UMA-style external dispute resolution.

What to know:

• Hyperliquid has expanded its HIP-4 outcome market to let users trade prediction-style contracts on offchain events like U.S. inflation data and Federal Reserve decisions alongside crypto derivatives.
• Unlike rival Polymarket, which relies on UMA’s external oracle, Hyperliquid resolves these markets through its own validator set, which ingests news, decides which.

Read full storyLatest Crypto News

XRP Ledger to delete NFT junk and patch key bugs takes in new upgrade

23 minutes ago

Hyperliquid takes a swing at Polymarket with macro outcome bets

2 hours ago

At $322 billion, the stablecoin market value exceeds the FX reserves of 95 nations

3 hours ago

Ondo Finance founder Nathan Allman dies unexpectedly

3 hours ago

XRP slips below $1.35 after triangle breakdown puts focus on $1.30 support

4 hours ago

HYPE briefly overtakes Dogecoin, privacy tokens slide as US strikes on Iran rattle markets

4 hours agoTop Stories

Buterin says Ethereum Foundation will shrink, sell less ETH, and focus on 'CROPS'

17 hours ago

Bitcoin stalls near $76,500 as muted trading points to macro wait-and-see

5 hours ago

NEAR price rally gains momentum as cross-chain product activity fuels further 15% jump

15 hours ago

Hyperliquid is emerging as a challenger to traditional exchanges and prediction markets, says FalconX

May 25, 2026

In this article

BTCBTC$76,856.32◢0.