Ethereum: 200,000 ETH Options Expiry Spurs Demand – How Far Can Price Go?

Investors are bullish on Ethereum as the industry awaits the launch of Spot Ethereum ETFs. This sentiment is relayed through the recent expiration of Ethereum options contracts and the put-call ratio. According to data, over 200,000 ETH options recently expired, and the crypto community eagerly awaits the direction of the Ethereum price.

Notably, the majority of the expiring ETH options are call options, meaning buyers are betting the price will rise. At the same time, the put-call ratio is at 0.36. This low value means market participants are currently buying more call options than put options. 

Options are contracts that give buyers the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an asset at a specific price on or before a certain date. If the Ethereum price is above the strike price of these options at expiry, buyers will likely exercise their right to buy ETH at a discount, which would drive the price up further.

According to data, participants in the options market are betting on Ethereum’s price increase despite the recent stagnation around $3,500. Particularly, the data shows that 200,000 ETH options worth $710 million recently expired due to Ethereum’s failure to break above the $3,600 price mark.

This means most options traders were betting Ether would be trading higher by now. Despite this, the sheer number of call options suggests the amount of demand pressure Ethereum is currently facing, which is set to continue into the next month. Hence, this is a good time for investors to lay out plans for next month’s call options. 

14 June options delivery data 20,000 BTC options expired with a Put Call Ratio of 0.49, a maximum pain point of $68,500 and a notional value of $1.35 billion. 200,000 ETH options expired with a Put Call Ratio of 0.36, a max pain of $3,600 and a notional value of $710 million.… pic.twitter.com/42ruZLLtqc

— Greeks.live (@GreeksLive) June 14, 2024

Demand for Ethereum is spiking. This signals that traders expect the price to continue rising in the near term. Accumulation was at its highest in the middle of the week, with holders gobbling up more than 298,000 ETH in 24 hours. Also, on-chain data from Santiment shows that the top 10 exchange wallets have seen their ETH holdings drop by 8.6% in the past few days as traders accumulate into private wallets. Notably, the uptick in withdrawals also saw 336,000 ETH worth $1.2 billion withdrawn from Coinbase on Wednesday and Thursday.

On the other hand, Ethereum, which started last week trading around $3,700, struggled to break above a resistance of $3,600 during the weekend. The increase in call options, along with the increasing demand, suggests Ethereum will easily break above $3,600 in the new week. Breaking through $3,600 and $3,700 would be extremely bullish and could trigger a rally to new all-time highs.  

Featured image from Flow, chart from TradingView