U.S. Elections-Linked Bitcoin Options Attract Almost $350M in Open Interest
Traders have secured $345 million in bitcoin options that will expire four days after the U.S. presidential elections on November 4. The distribution of open interest implies a bullish sentiment among crypto traders, according to trading firm Wintermute. These options, known as election expiry options, started trading on Deribit a month ago and have generated significant interest from investors speculating on how the elections could impact the crypto markets. The current open interest of $345.83 million indicates a preference for call options, which anticipate price increases, with a put-call ratio of less than 0.50. Among the call options, the $80,000 strike price has the highest open interest at over $39 million, suggesting market participants are anticipating new record highs for bitcoin around the election period. Conversely, the $45,000 put option has $39 million in open interest, indicating some level of hedging or downside protection.