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Open Interest for BTC options is at staggering levels; however, a lot of it might be by the Bitcoin whales

The number of open interest and the volumes of the July calls for Bitcoin are staggering. The enormous value associated with
The number of open interest and the volumes of the July calls for Bitcoin are staggering. The enormous value associated with less number of contracts might be indicative of the presence of Bitcoin whales.

This week saw a spectacular turnaround for both Wall Street and the cryptocurrency king, Bitcoin. The Dow Jones rose for three consecutive days.

It was quite an eventful week for BTC. Bitcoin started the week at just above $9,500, then quickly fell to around $8,300 and then again rose to above $9,600. It is currently trading at approximately $9,450.

Bitcoin Futures and Options data from CME

Source: TradingView.com

The monthly option for BTC is about to expire today. The data from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange shows that it has been one of the best trading days for the exchange. Here is the BTCUSD daily-chart.

Skew is a research-house which works on real-time data on Bitcoin and analyses them. They revealed that the Bitcoin traded volume crossed over $60 million yesterday before the options expiry today.

The data and charts put out by Skew on their social media handles, shows that the traded volume of BTC options yesterday was far higher than the total traded volumes of the past two weeks. These options have an expiry of July.

Interpretation of the CME options data on Bitcoin

The data published by Skew shows that the July calls had the highest traded volumes. To put it into perspective: People buy or sell Call options when they believe that the prices will move higher. Therefore, the most substantial traded volume of July calls implies that people are expecting BTCUSD to go even higher in July.

However, another interesting fact from the data was the number of ‘Open Interests’ for the May contracts expiring today. The total number of contracts is approximately 2000, but the notional value is $250 million.

It is quite eye-catching because of the enormous value associated with such a less number of contracts. It could imply that there are a handful of players who are creating this mammoth open-interest. It could also suggest that these might be the Bitcoin whales, who can easily manipulate the markets.

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