Bitcoin and Ether rallied on Thursday, as investors braced for a wave of expiring options.
Bitcoin and Ether rallied on Thursday, as investors braced for a wave of expiring options. Biggest electronic money up 3.9% to $20,626, while Ether rose 5.8% to $1,108. The gains came before the weekly options expiration on Friday, the last quarter of the current quarter also coincides with the futures’ expiration “to make the final ‘product’ in the first half of the year.” 2022″, according to Genesis Global Trading.
“Open interest in options on Deribit shows over $2 billion in nominal terms for Bitcoin and $1 billion for Ether options, making this the largest future exchange expiration date with a wide margin (~39% and ~33% of total open interest on exchange for BTC and ETH options respectively),” wrote Ainsley To, Gordon Grant and Noelle Acheson of Genesis in a note Wednesday.
Bitcoin options expiring on Friday are mostly given around current prices, with nominal open interest centered around $20,000, Genesis said. For Ether, there is comparable concentration around the $1,000 attack — mostly put, the company added.
The crypto market is struggling to consolidate after falling sharply in recent months as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to combat inflation. The collapse of the Terra/Luna ecosystem and continued concern about the hedge fund Three Arrows Capital Ltd. made investors more nervous.
“Chaos has returned to the crypto space as high inflation threatens the valuation of all risky assets, including equities,” Bitfinex analysts wrote in a note Wednesday. promissory note”. “As central banks continue to reverse their previous regulatory policies, we can expect more volatility in Bitcoin price.”
The upcoming deadline could affect price action, especially if Bitcoin and Ether are right around the high levels of options concentration.
“Both Bitcoin and Ether hit lows below $20,000 and $1,000 respectively over the weekend,” the Genesis report notes. “Although they have since recovered above those levels, the options market will be one to watch if prices sustain close to these levels on Friday.”
