Crypto News – As the final quarterly options expiry in 2023 approaches, Bitcoin (BTC) is still holding strong above $40,000.
11 Billion-Dollar Crypto Options Expiry Nears
A whopping $7.7 billion worth of options connected to Bitcoin (BTC) and $3.5 billion worth of options linked to Ether (ETH) are set to expire on the cryptocurrency exchange Deribit on Friday at 8:00 UTC.
The total of over $11 billion marks Deribit’s largest expiry thus far, of which almost $5 billion will expire in the money, the largest amount ever as well, potentially resulting in above-average hedging and trading activity,
Luuk Strijers, the exchange’s chief commercial officer
Are Traders in a Rush for Call Options?
After Ether gained 43% and BTC saw a 60% increase this quarter, investors are rushing to add calls to increase their upside exposure. For in-the-money call options, this explains the record notional open interest. The process may extend until Friday’s quarterly settlement, as per Strijers, who claims that clients have been rolling their positions from the December expiry to contracts expiring in January and later months.
“Beyond hedging, we also see clients rolling positions to 2024 expiries and expect to see more of that closer to the expiry as well as afterward. After the expiration, all eyes and trading activity will be focused on the upcoming ETF decision.” Strijers
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