By Sidhartha Shukla and Suvashree Ghosh

(Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fell ahead of a potentially volatile end of the week, with large options expiries looming.

Ether fell as much as 4.8% to below $4,000, touching its lowest level in nearly seven weeks before recovering slightly to trade around that level. Bitcoin fell 1.6% as of 11:37 a.m. in London. Digital assets have lost roughly a combined $140 billion in market value this week.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Trump Cancels Trail, Bike-Lane Grants Deemed ‘Hostile’ to Cars

• Over 5,000 NYC Rent-Stabilized Apartments Headed for Auction

• Trump’s Border Czar Involved in Detention Contract Talks Despite Recusal

Volatility could intensify into the weekend, with more than $17 billion in notional open interest tied to Bitcoin and about $5.3 billion for Ether set to expire on Friday according to derivatives exchange Deribit.

“If we see a close tomorrow below $4,000 then the next stop would be somewhere in the $3,700-$3,500 area” for Ether, said Tony Sycamore, analyst at IG Australia.

Ether’s retreat came as “institutional inflows cooled” with “technical signals pointing to short-term pressure,” said Rachael Lucas, a crypto analyst at BTC Markets.

Investors have pulled nearly $300 million from US-listed Ether exchange-traded funds since Monday, when $1.7 billion in bullish bets got wiped out in a sudden downturn that affected most major tokens. Lucas said she expects more liquidations to follow if Ether’s slide takes it below $3,800.

(Updates prices.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• MrBeast on His Quest to Turn YouTube Fame Into an Entertainment Empire

• ‘I Was a Weird Kid’: Jailhouse Confessions of a Teen Hacker

• Inflation Is Worse Than the CPI Shows, Says Ex US Comptroller

• Top US Business Schools Are Shutting Down DEI Initiatives