The options market appears to be growing stronger with the largest Ether options open interest by expiration date, namely the contract expiring at the end of April. About $3.3 billion worth of notional Ether options are set to expire, with about two-thirds of that amount being used for calls or price bullish bets, according to Deribit data.
“Call strikes are concentrated between $3,700 and $4,000, which shows an upward bias in the market and underlying bullish sentiment,” Wintermute OTC trader Jake Ostrovskis told The Block.
Wintermute analysts added that the current open interest distortion shows call options trading at a premium to puts, while implied volatility spiked over the weekend. “Overall, this means more directional bias and less reliance on option writing to finance premiums,” Ostrovskis added.
The put-call ratio indicates bullishness.
According to Deribit data, the Ethereum put call ratio expiring at the end of April is currently at 0.45. This is a slightly more bullish position compared to Bitcoin options, which has a put-call ratio of 0.48.
“I think it’s because traders are looking at the relative value of Ethereum, which has not outperformed Ethereum so far in 2024,” Ostrovskis added.
A put-to-call option ratio less than 1 means call volume exceeds put volume, indicating bullish sentiment in the market. Traders who buy call options implicitly assume that they are bullish on the market, while put buyers are assumed to be bearish.
The Ether put-call ratio for all expirations on Deribit on Monday fell to 0.4, the lowest since late February, according to The Block’s data dashboard.
However, Ostrovskis added that the perceived negative impact of regulatory changes on Ethereum remains a stumbling block for the digital asset.
“With the market’s view that there is only a 17% chance of the ETF being approved by June 30, 2024, the SEC appears to be still waging a campaign to classify it as a security. There was even a report last week that the SEC was seeking comment. “Yes, the spot Ether ETF, which is a trigger that the market should be well-receptive to, seems to have been ignored,” he said.
According to The Block’s pricing page, Ethereum is up about 6.8% over the past 24 hours and is trading at $3,645 at 11:14 a.m. ET.
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