On December 26, Sean McNulty, director of trading at liquidity provider Arbelos Markets, said: "MicroStrategy's announcement that it will issue more shares to buy more bitcoin next year has pushed up the price of bitcoin. The market is forward-looking towards MicroStrategy's bitcoin purchases, which is the biggest reason for the market rally." According to a Dec. 23 SEC filing, MicroStrategy is seeking to increase the authorized number of Class A common shares and preference shares. So far this year, bitcoin has rallied 135%, outperforming the returns of traditional investments such as global stocks and gold. In addition, $13.95 billion worth of bitcoin options and $3.77 billion worth of ethereum options on Deribit expire on Friday, and the platform's unpositioned squaring contract positions exceed $43 billion, a record high. "Market makers may unhedge, which may lead to market volatility on Friday," McNulty added.