This Friday at 8AM UTC, Deribit, the leading crypto derivatives exchange, faces an imminent expiry of Bitcoin (BTC) options valued at $6.68 billion and Ethereum (ETH) options worth $3.5 billion. These expiries constitute over 40% of the total open interest, exceeding $23 billion, setting the stage for potential market turbulence.
Luuk Strijers, CEO of Deribit, highlighted the significance of this quarterly event, compounded by volatility stemming from U.S. stock market phenomena like ‘quadruple witching’. “More than 25% of open interest is poised to expire in-the-money, surpassing $2.7 billion,” Strijers noted, underlining the scale of the impending expiry at over $10 billion in notional value.
The market sentiment, influenced by Bitcoin’s recent 9% decline to below $60,000, has spurred activity among bargain hunters while impacting Ethereum, down nearly 10%. Despite this bearish trend, data from Amberdata suggests robust investor interest in higher premiums for near-term and long-term call options over puts, signaling anticipation of potential market upturns.
As of now, Bitcoin trades at $60,958, reflecting a 2.24% decline over the past 24 hours, while Ethereum hovers around $3,375, down 1.14%.
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