Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) took center stage today as options contracts worth billions expired amidst a historic quarterly delivery totaling over $15 billion.
In an interesting turn of events, the settlement or resolution of a large volume of crypto contracts, including options and futures contracts, took place today. This marked the first quarterly delivery of the year.
Data suggests that the notional value of $15 billion for this delivery represents the highest quarterly delivery figure ever recorded in the crypto market. This figure reflects the growing institutional involvement in the crypto scene and increasing capital inflows.
Renowned Chinese blockchain analyst Colin Wu brought attention to this development in a recent post, citing information provided by GeeksLive, an options trading data analytics resource.
When it comes to Bitcoin, 135,000 options contracts expired upon the quarterly delivery. The Put Call Ratio for these contracts stood at 0.85, indicating a predominantly bullish sentiment among traders. This ratio, which compares the number of put to call options, suggests optimism for Bitcoin’s price trajectory.
Additionally, Bitcoin’s max pain stood at $51,000, which is the level where the maximum number of options contracts expired worthless. As BTC currently trades above $70,000, this event could trigger significant price movements as traders adjust their positions.
The combined notional value of Bitcoin options contracts totaled a staggering $9.5 billion due to massive capital inflows amid institutional interest.
Despite the monumental quarterly delivery, Bitcoin surged during the week, reaching $70,000 and defying expectations.
Bitcoin has stabilized above the $70,000 territory, but the recent quarterly delivery could lead to heightened volatility in the BTC market. The premier crypto currently trades for $70,385, with 24-hour options Open Interest (OI) rising 2% to $10.24 billion, according to Coinglass data.
As the market prepares for Bitcoin’s halving event next month, traders have been adjusting their strategies accordingly. The halving event, which occurs every four years and halves the reward for mining new blocks, could further boost BTC’s price by reducing its inflation rate.
Meanwhile, Ethereum also recorded significantly higher figures, with 1.58 million options contracts expiring. The Put Call Ratio for Ethereum stands at 0.63, indicating a similar bullish bias among options traders, albeit slightly lower than that of Bitcoin.
Ethereum’s max pain point was $2,600, but the crypto asset is now 35% up from this price, currently trading at $3,533. The notional value of Ethereum options contracts amounted to $5.6 billion, indicating massive capital inflows into the ETH options market.
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