Bitcoin eyes $81K as Nvidia earnings beat boosts risk assets

Bitcoin (BTC) rebounded toward $81,000 around Thursday’s Wall Street open as Nvidia earnings boosted US stocks.

Key points:

• Bitcoin reclaims $80,000 as $96.2 billion Nvidia earnings provide a boost to crypto and US equities.
• Expectations are running high ahead of Fed chair Kevin Warsh’s keynote speech at the Jackson Hole economic symposium on Friday.
• Bitcoin analysis sees sell-side pressure lessening above $82,000 ahead of the $6.6 billion August options expiry.

Nvidia earnings beat sends stocks, crypto higher

Data from TradingView showed new local highs of $80,808 for BTC/USD, with bulls again seeking to cement the $80,000 mark as support.

BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Nvidia surprised to the upside after Wednesday trading, posting Q2 earnings of $96.2 billion — nearly $4 billion more than expected. On Thursday, its stock surged more than 9% and its market cap gained over $400 billion, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index 1% higher at the time of writing.

“Nvidia is now on track to post the 3rd largest single-day market cap gain by a stock in history,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter wrote in a reaction on X.

Nvidia stock one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Markets are now turning to the US Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole economic symposium, already underway, ahead of chair Kevin Warsh’s keynote speech on Friday. Hopes are that Warsh, known for being tight-lipped on future policy shifts, will nonetheless tame market uncertainty amid mixed US inflation data and volatile government bond yields.

“Chairman Warsh’s address is poised to be extremely key given the jump in long-term interest rates and high uncertainty over the path of inflation and Fed’s reaction function going forward,” Nationwide chief US economist Kathy Bostjancic said, quoted by CNBC.  

Analyst sees Bitcoin sell wall thinning ahead of options expiry

Crypto liquidations edged higher at around $417 million over 24 hours, per data from CoinGlass, after Bitcoin buyers chipped away at an area of significant ask liquidity.

Related: BTC RSI bullish divergence draws 2022 comparisons as analysis weighs new price trend

Previously, Cointelegraph reported that this zone extended up to $86,000, creating friction for further price upside.

Crypto liquidation history (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

Commenting, analyst David Eng described this liquidity wall as “weakening” ahead of Friday’s $6.58 billion (81,700 BTC) August options expiry event on crypto exchange Deribit.

“BTC is compressed under resistance just as the derivatives structure holding it there is about to weaken. Break $82K and the path to $85K+ gets much cleaner,” he told X followers.

Bitcoin options open interest by expiry date. Source: Deribit

Bitcoin options expiry events are when options contracts end, allowing traders to buy or sell BTC for a specific price. This can spark increased market volatility, with price gravitating toward a particular strike price.