Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) investors have begun to act cautiously in the market due to the expiration of options contracts worth approximately 3.5 billion dollars.
The options expirations that occurred on June 13 in the cryptocurrency market caught investors' attention. An options contract is a financial instrument that gives the investor the right to buy or sell at a specific price in the future. In the transactions that expired today, 28,000 options contracts on the Bitcoin side closed. The sell/buy ratio (Put Call ratio) in these options indicates whether investors showed more interest in the sell option (transactions aimed at hedging against price declines) or the buy option (transactions betting on price increases). Bitcoin's Put Call ratio was realized at 0.9. This value indicates that there is an expectation of price declines in the market, but the expectation of increases is also strong.
The critical level for Bitcoin, where the price caused the most losses for investors (Maxpain point), was determined to be 106,000 dollars. The total market value of Bitcoin options was 2.93 billion dollars.
On the Ethereum front, 244,000 options contracts expired. Ethereum's Put Call ratio was higher than Bitcoin's, standing at 1.13. This ratio indicates that investors have a more dominant expectation of a decline in Ethereum prices. Ethereum's Maxpain level was set at 2,650 dollars. The total value of Ethereum options was reported to be approximately 620 million dollars.
Israel's attacks on Iran in the Middle East have created serious unease in the markets. This situation has led investors to want to avoid risk and has caused selling pressure. Especially in Ethereum, one of the measures used by the market to predict future price movements, implied volatility (Implied Volatility - IV) has increased. This indicates that there could be significant fluctuations in Ethereum prices. On the Bitcoin side, however, volatility continues to remain at low levels.
Investors prefer sell (put) options to protect themselves against possible price declines. This situation is a clear sign that investors are adopting a more defensive strategy in the short term.
