Market turnover: Bitcoin hovers around $ 34.2 000, while option traders pay for possible ETH upside

After a record day in spot volume, the price of bitcoin rose, rising again and again. Meanwhile, most ether options traders are clumsy, some paying when it comes to record highs.

Bitcoin’s price had an up-and-down day, as high as $ 36,605 around 08:00 UTC (3 hours ET), to around $ 32,528 at 14:30 UTC (09:00 ET) and then back to $ 34,278 as of press time.

Andrew Tu, CEO of quantum trading firm Efficient Frontier, sees the $ 36,000 price level as ‘resistance’, an area where clumsy traders seem to want to push the sell button on bitcoin. ‘Bulls are currently challenging the $ 36,000 resistance. “During the afternoon hours in Asia, it could not end up with more than $ 36,600,” Tu told CoinDesk. “When the U.S. east coast woke up, the market started to rise in price again.”

Monday’s bitcoin spot volumes were the highest ever seen since CoinDesk 20 data was recorded across eight major stock exchanges. An astonishing volume of $ 13.3 billion was traded on Monday, the highest since December 22, 2017, when volumes reached $ 9.7 billion.

Yet spot volumes were much lower on Tuesday, at $ 5.1 billion at press time.

“There will probably be a fight to bring the recent range from $ 36,000 to $ 36,600,” said Andrew Tu of Efficient Frontier..

Volume is likely to play a factor in the fight, given the striking spot-exchange activity during the week’s open. However, this was due to large volumes sold, which caused the world’s oldest cryptocurrency to plummet by 20% within 24 hours.

Read more: Bitcoin whales pile up during Monday’s crash

“Bitcoin reaches a peak of $ 42,000 immediately before a weekend,” said David Russell, vice president of market intelligence at trading technology firm TradeStation. “The volume dries up when institutional investors are gone and other markets are closed. This left bitcoin hanging in the middle of the air without buyers supporting it. ”

In the bitcoin options market, traders seem to be expiring their chance at a price of $ 30,000 per 1 BTC on January 21st. The market-based probabilities by that date have a 62% chance of bitcoin exceeding $ 30,000, a 55% chance of $ 32,000 and 47% expect the world’s oldest cryptocurrency to approach the end of the year. month will be $ 34,000.

“Bitcoin is a volatile asset,” TradeStation’s Russell said. “You can not expect it to double in a few weeks and not retreat.”

Read more: As Bitcoin recovers, options traders bet $ 52,000 by the end of January

Michael Gord, CEO of trading firm Global Digital Asset, said he expects institutions to continue to pick up bitcoin, which could help support the asset at a price point of $ 30,000 and above. “I think we’re going to see a big revival as big brands are going to pawn their coffers in the blockchain.” he said.

Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was higher on Tuesday, trading at around $ 1,085, up 6% in 24 hours from 21:00 UTC (16:00 ET).

On Monday, the amount of the premium traded on Deribit’s ethereal options market had the strongest calls giving owners the right, but not the obligation, to buy an asset at a certain price. According to data from CoinDesk 20, Ether’s overall spot price is high at $ 1,448.

While the ethereal options market favors strong strikes below the $ 800 ETH price point, 68% of the premiums paid on Monday appear to come from traders who want to cover the risk of another parabolic rise in ether, according to data collector Genesis Volatility Tuesday’s investor note.

“Option traders are willing to pay much more for exposure to the ETH upside option than for exposure to downside,” Genesis wrote. “This activity indicates that traders are seeing an asymmetry in the volatility in price actions, also known as ‘crash-up risk’ and FOMO sentiment. ‘

Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are all green Tuesday. Notable winners from 21:00 UTC (16:00 ET):

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