Bitcoin futures basis, the difference between futures and spot prices, has increased to levels not seen since the digital asset’s previous high of $68,000 in late 2021.
“Currently the basis is 18-25% per annum, a value we will only see in 2021,” Luuk Strijers, Deribit’s chief commercial officer, told The Block.
Strijers added that with the higher annual basis, derivatives traders can make significant profits by buying spot Bitcoin and simultaneously selling nominally equivalent futures contracts at a higher price. This trade provides dollar profits that can be realized at expiration regardless of changes in the value of Bitcoin.
Streazers said the gap between Bitcoin spot and futures prices reflects growing market momentum following the ETF’s approval in January and expectations about the impact of the Bitcoin halving.
“The fact that these yields are incredibly high is a very bullish indicator, as new funds are flowing into the system every day due to the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs and the expected impact of the Bitcoin halving,” he said.
Chart showing the increasing Bitcoin annual futures basis. Image: Deribit.
Bitcoin Option Put-Call Ratio
In the Bitcoin options market, Strijers noted an increase in the number of calls outstanding compared to puts options leading to expiration at the end of March.
“Overall, Bitcoin’s put-call ratio is currently at 0.59, so there are six puts for every 10 calls, and in June it drops to 0.32, so there are only three puts for every 10 calls,” Strijers told The Block. This ratio, which suggests a greater preference for call options over puts in the Bitcoin options market, may indicate that bullish sentiment remains dominant among derivatives traders.
If the put-call options ratio is lower than 1, it means call volume exceeds put volume. Traders who buy call options are implicitly assumed to be bullish on the market, while put buyers are assumed to be bearish. According to The Block’s data dashboard, Deribit’s current Bitcoin put-call ratio is 0.58, and Deribit holds approximately 90% of all Bitcoin options open interest.
Bitcoin price adjustment experience
Over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin has retreated from its all-time high of more than $73,000 posted in early trading on Thursday.
Over the past day, price corrections have resulted in the liquidation of a significant portion of long positions on central exchanges. According to CoinGlass data, this volatility resulted in the liquidation of more than $278 million in Bitcoin positions, most of which ($225 million) were long positions.
According to The Block’s pricing page, the largest digital asset by market capitalization is currently trading at $68,446 as of 10:06 a.m. ET.
The GM 30 index, which represents the top 30 cryptocurrencies, fell 4.48% to 152.83 over the past 24 hours.
Bitcoin price has fallen more than 4% in the last 24 hours. Image: Block.
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