Bitcoin at $79,568: which levels count before Friday's options expiry

Here is what is documented: bitcoin trades at $79,568 on Tuesday morning, measured at 05:41 Central European Time on CoinGecko, and on Friday at 9 a.m. a total of 135,545 bitcoin contracts expire on the options exchange Deribit. Our reading follows further down: the expiry explains why the price has been moving in a narrow range for days, but it says nothing about the direction afterwards. If you hold bitcoin, this is no academic question.