Ether has been performing excellently in recent weeks, and for the first time, its options volume has surpassed that of Bitcoin
Ether (ETH) has been one of the best-performing cryptocurrencies since the start of the year. While Bitcoin has been leading the current market rally, it has cooled down over the past few weeks, allowing Ether and other leading coins such as Binance Coin (BNB) to push the market higher.
For the first time, Ether’s options volume has surpassed that of Bitcoin. The Ether options trading volume recorded on the four-largest derivative exchanges (Deribit, OKEx, Huobi, and bit.com) was $1.32 billion compared with $879 million for Bitcoin.
Bitcoin has always been the leading cryptocurrency in terms of price and trading volume. In a tweet, Deribit exchange stated that it doesn’t know the cause of the flip: “We have no opinion on an $ETH – BTC flippening, but our ETH options volume did flip $BTC options volume for the first time. $1.4B notional.”
The surge in Ether’s options trading volume coincides with the rise of the cryptocurrency’s price in the spot market. The Ethereum blockchain’s native token reached an all-time high above $3,400 earlier this week, bringing its total gains for the month to over 60%. In the same period, Bitcoin’s value is down 3%.
The rally has seen Ether’s total market cap reach $350 billion, further opening up the gap it has on BNB, which has a market cap of roughly $100 billion. Ether options have been increasing in recent weeks, and Deribit accounts for 80% of the market activity.
Options are a unique trading mechanism used by traders. They are derivative contracts that give the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to purchase an underlying security or asset at a pre-set price on or before a pre-agreed date. With a call option, the trader has the right to buy, while a put option grants the right to sell.