On Friday (July 25), trading in the Asian market opened, with Bitcoin continuing to drop to around $115,600, down 2.59% in the last 24 hours. This follows Bitcoin's previous drop below $117,000, indicating that market volatility remains high. At this time, high-risk bearish bets on Bitcoin fell to $110,000.
A cryptocurrency investor just placed a high-risk bet, wagering that Bitcoin will drop at least 8% before early August, falling below $110,000.
According to the main broker FalconX, an unnamed speculator spent approximately $5 million on options at the Deribit exchange on Tuesday, purchasing Bitcoin put options with a strike price of $110,000, expiring on August 8. The trade was split into two parts: 3,000 and 2,000 Bitcoins, with a total notional value of about $600 million.
Griffin Sears, Global Head of Derivatives at FalconX, stated: 'This is considered the largest single-leg block trade in U.S. dollars in Deribit's history. The size, structure, and short-term nature of the trade indicate that this is an institutional-level high-conviction view. Notably, such a scale of risk is expressed through a single leg (rather than a complex spread strategy), showing a clear directional view.'
A representative from Deribit has not commented on this.
Traders may also take similar structured bets for the purpose of hedging against short-term price fluctuations or volatility trading.
Although still an emerging market compared to traditional options trading, the size and structure of such trades indicate that institutional investors' risk appetite is rising, and they are becoming increasingly familiar with crypto-native derivatives trading.
Nicolas Quatravaux, EMEA head of Paradigm (the largest crypto derivatives liquidity network), said: 'This trade is not only significant due to its scale, but it also demonstrates the progress made in the depth and capacity for institutional trading flows in the crypto options market.'
In the current round of the crypto bull market, the vast majority of trading volume is concentrated in derivatives markets such as futures and options. The number of open contracts on Deribit has recently hit a new high. Perpetual contracts currently account for the vast majority of global crypto trading volume.
Whether it's cash-settled crypto options or futures, investors can bet on price fluctuations without directly holding the underlying assets. These contracts can also provide leverage for traders. Although most trading used to occur on offshore platforms like Binance, U.S. exchanges have begun to launch similar products under relaxed regulations since Trump, who supports crypto, won the presidential election last year. Coinbase Global Inc. announced in May this year that it has reached an agreement to acquire Deribit.
