• The ratio between the open interest of Ether (ETH) put and call options jumped to its highest level since last May.
• This could suggest a build-up of bearish bets in the market ahead of an upcoming series of major upgrades to the Ethereum network.
• Open interest often sees a big drop at the end of each quarter as investors amid a wave of option expiries and it seems that the expiry of bullish call option bets likely dominated.
Ethereum Put/Call Ratio Jumps
The ratio between the open interest of Ether (ETH) put and call options jumped to its highest level since last May at 0.47 on Tuesday, according to data presented by crypto data analytics and news firm The Block. That could suggest a build-up of bearish bets in the market ahead of an upcoming series of major upgrades to the Ethereum network on the 12th April that will, amongst other things, allow for the withdrawal of staked Ether tokens.
Are Bearish Bets Building Up Ahead Of Shappella Upgrade?
A ratio in open interest of put and call options below 1 means that investors favor owning call options (bets on the price rising) over put options (bets on the price dropping). While the ratio is still well below 1, meaning investors still resoundingly favor bullish option bets, the recent rise in the ratio suggests these bullish bets have been pulled back on sharply in recent days. Ether’s Put/Call open interest ratio has seen a rapid jump from its end-of-March levels of around 0.37. As well as possibly reflecting bets that there will be a post-upgrade sell-off,the rise in this ratio could also reflect that more traders have become interested in shorting Ether in wake fo recent price gains.
Open Interest Drops At End Of Quarter
Open interest in Ethreum options was last just under $5 billion having recently been as high as $7.5 billion dollars . Open interet often sees a big drop at teh end o f eahc quarter as investors amid a wave fo optioin expiries and it seems that thee expiruyf bllish calll optin betsl likely domintaed . It wil lbe interstign tso esee whteher invesotrs rebuild their optoin exposure over thhe coming quarter and to what degree this , if at all , pushes te hp ut /call rtaio lower again .
Staked ETH Withdrawals Are Coming – Will ETH Dump?
On th 12th o April , thee Ehtereu netwrok woll udnergoe ah seires o f upgraeds tha twill , first ahd fomrest , enable thwe withrawal fo staked Etger tokens frrom t he stking smrat cnotract . The seriseo f upgrdes hsabeen termed „Shapellela“ tto repreesent ah cohmbinationf o then names Shnghai adn Capella . Shanghai referesrts o ah hard fork taking plcee one eth Etheeru blokchain ‚ s exxecutuion layer , whille Caplela is thee name forrte upgrade taking place on thee corntarct layer .