Ether options trading hits record high as bullish sentiment prevails

In January, the trading volume of ether options on major cryptocurrency derivatives exchanges reached an unprecedented $17.9 billion, with several days remaining in the month. This surge in options trading activity reflects a prevailing bullish sentiment in the market, as indicated by the put-call skew and open interest data.

Record-breaking volume

According to The Block’s Data Dashboard, the trading volume of ether options has skyrocketed to $17.9 billion this January, setting a new record. This impressive figure has been achieved with five days left in the month, underlining the growing interest and activity in the ether options market.

Options expiry and bullish sentiment

Approximately 932,000 ether options expired on Friday at 3:00 a.m. ET across various centralized derivatives exchanges. Going into this expiry, the put-call ratio for ether options stood at 0.31, according to GreeksLive. This data aligns with findings from The Block’s Data Dashboard, which revealed a put-call ratio of 0.3 for ether options on Deribit before the options expiry.

A put-call ratio below 0.7 is generally interpreted as a sign of bullish sentiment in the market, indicating a preference for buying options (calls) rather than selling options (puts). When the ratio is below one, it suggests that there are more calls relative to puts, reflecting a prevailing bullish outlook among traders.

Derivatives traders anticipating price rise

Deribit data further reveals that the largest cohort of open interest by volume is concentrated in calls with a February 16 expiry at a strike price of $2,350. This concentration of open interest in bullish call options indicates that many derivatives traders are anticipating the price of ether to rise above this level by mid-February.

As of the latest data, the price of ether has experienced a nearly 2% increase in the past 24 hours, reaching $2,259. This uptrend is in line with the overall bullish sentiment in the market and the high trading volume observed in the ether options market.

Undoubtedly, the surge in ether options trading volume to an all-time high in January reflects the prevailing bullish sentiment among cryptocurrency traders. The data on put-call skew and open interest ratios further substantiate this optimism, with traders concentrating their bets on rising ether prices in the near term. 

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