Although Bitcoin has experienced sudden and sharp declines in recent days, options traders are increasing their bets that Bitcoin will reach a record level by the end of the month, amid expectations of possible interest rate cuts in the US and increased ETF inflows.
According to data compiled by Deribit, the largest crypto options exchange, the BTC price with the largest open position is $ 75,000, followed by strike prices of $ 100,000 and $ 80,000, respectively.
Evaluating the expectations of options traders and the $6.68 billion Bitcoin and $3.5 billion Ethereum (ETH) options expiring on Friday, Deribit CEO Luuk Strijers said that the size of the upcoming BTC and ETH options expiration is a % of the total notional option open positions on Deribit. He said he represented more than 40 of them.
Stating that the size of BTC and ETH options may increase the volatility in prices, Deribit CEO said that traders are optimistic and expect a new ATH in BTC in the near future.
“The uptrend in the Bitcoin options market is being driven by strong BTC ETF flows, the expectation of a US interest rate cut, ECB interest rates and the anticipated approval of the Ethereum ETF.
Bitcoin’s recent price drop was due to miner sell-offs, pressure from Germany’s BTC sell-off, and of course the news that Mt.Gox was starting refunds in early July.
While the short-term bearish trend is evident, traders are expecting a positive change on July 12 for Bitcoin and July 5 for ETH, looking at the skew in options. ETH ETF trading is expected to begin in the first week of July.”
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is at $61,488; Ethereum continues to trade at $3,379.
*This is not investment advice.