Bitcoin Price Forecast: BTC Holds Above $80K Despite Options Expiry

Bitcoin is changing hands near $83,934, down a modest 0.35% over the past 24 hours, as the market works through the fallout from a heavy options expiry and a wave of institutional buying. The pullback looks tame compared to the fireworks of the past five weeks. For anyone watching the Bitcoin price forecast, the more interesting question is what’s driving the underlying strength, and whether it can hold. US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have absorbed roughly $4.6 billion in net inflows since August 19, according to Bloomberg data, reversing a redemption streak that had dogged the funds for most of 2026 and pushing cumulative net flows for the year back into positive territory at about $320 million. September 21 alone brought in roughly $999 million, the largest single-day haul since October 2025. That flow reversal has coincided with a rally that took Bitcoin from below $80,000 to a high above $87,000 before the current cooldown. Leverage has followed the price higher. Perpetual futures open interest across crypto has climbed toward $160 billion, the highest reading since late October 2025, according to Coinglass — a setup that tends to amplify moves in both dire...