Litecoin (LTC) might be 60% below its December 2017 all-time high at $420, but that hasn't stopped its futures contracts open interest from reaching a record $584 million. This makes LTC the seventh-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and it ranks third in derivatives, behind Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). As shown above, LTC futures aggregate open interest increased by 285% over the past three months. One should keep in mind that such an event is not necessarily positive since futures contracts require both a buyer (long) and a seller (short). Nevertheless, this increasing interest allows even more substantial players to …

Bitcoin (BTC) bulls seem firmly in the driving seat this week as the largest cryptocurrency begins Monday at near $40,000. After climbing through much of the previous week’s trading, BTC/USD is now up 15% compared to seven days ago — what’s next? Cointelegraph takes a look at five factors which may influence where Bitcoin heads in the coming few days. Stocks hit records but dollar declines Bitcoin’s ascent prior to the weekend was accompanied by a familiar scenario on macro markets. Despite the coronavirus and its fallout continuing to wreak havoc on many economies worldwide, stock markets hit new all-time …

Ether’s (ETH) $10,000 Dec. 31 call options recently came under the spotlight after surpassing $15.2 million in open interest (8,400 contracts). These instruments give the buyer the right to acquire Ether at a future date for a fixed price and the seller is obliged to honor it. For this right, the buyer pays an upfront fee (premium) to the call option seller. For this reason, call options are deemed neutral-to-bullish as they give its buyer the possibility of high leverage with a little upfront investment. This ‘right’ is currently being traded for $263, equivalent to 14% of the underlying Dec. …

Ether (ETH) price has rallied by 33% over the last five days and data shows that as this occurred some buyers began to use excessive leverage. Although this is not necessarily negative, it should be considered a yellow flag as a higher premium on futures contracts for short periods is normal. Although Ether’s upward movement has been going for an extended period, it was only in February that Ether finally broke the $1,500 psychological barrier and entered price discovery mode. To assess whether the market is overly optimistic, there are a few essential derivatives metrics to review. One is the …

On Feb. 5, a total of $1 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) options open interest is set to expire. This number is small relative to the past month's $4 billion options expiry, but monthly and quarterly options typically concentrate the most volume. Friday's expiry is somewhat unusual although it is balanced at the current BTC levels. Data also shows that bulls have many incentives to push up the price above $38,000. Deribit exchange holds 84% market share for Friday's expiry. By analyzing the aggregate open interest between $28,000 and $43,000, there are $300 million worth of neutral-to-bullish call options stacked against …

Following numerous headlines about the meteoric price rise of several assets, including GameStop (GME), AMC Entertainment (AMC) stocks, and Dogecoin (DOGE), crypto exchange FTX has listed an index following the assets. FTX named the index after r/Wallstreetbets — the Reddit group thought to be associated with pumping the prices of those assets. “We're happy to announce that we have launched trading for a basket of Wall Street Bets markets,” FTX said in a public statement on Thursday. The index trades as a futures contract with expiration on March 26, 2021. When asked if the product is just a short-term offering …

Bitcoin (BTC) price tumbled more than 10% today to hit a low near $31,000 and at the time of writing it looks like the sell-off has a bit further to go. In a weekly report from crypto fund provider, CoinShares, some institutional investors seem to be booking profits and the analysts also cited the strengthening (trade-weighted) U.S. dollar. Another indicator that points to professionals selling Bitcoin is the drop in "Coinbase Premium." As markets continue lower, an increasing number of investors may dump their positions with the intent to buy again at lower levels. Guggenheim Partners chief investment officer Scott …

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, could be preparing its entry into the Bitcoin (BTC) derivatives market, according to a pair of filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. The two prospectus filings — BlackRock Funds V and BlackRock Global Allcoation Fund, Inc. — appeared on the SEC website on Wednesday. Both filings mention the possibility of using Bitcoin derivatives and other assets as part of its investment scheme. However, neither filing makes a definitive statement about the use of Bitcoin futures now or in the future. The prospectus states: “Each Fund may use instruments referred …

Over the past 6 months, Binance Coin (BNB) has been quietly rallying higher, gaining 189% during this period and notching a new all-time high at $46.90 on Jan. 18. This price peak happened just one day before its quarterly token burn, leading investors to question whether or not BNB price will move higher once the event concludes. A token burn is a permanent removal of coins from circulation and this deflationary technique is a common practice used by many projects in the crypto sector. As Cointelegraph reported, the process does not destroy the coins but rather renders them unusable. Aside …

The past week has been an emotional rollercoaster for Ether (ETH) traders, as there were seven four-hour candles of a 10% or larger price movement. Furthermore, the most recent 30% drop to $920 triggered $550 million in liquidations on long futures contracts. To complicate things even further, this current price correction is taking place just four weeks ahead of the launch of CME's ETH futures. It’s possible that even the most bullish Ether traders did not expect an 85% rally to occur in just eight days. During that short timespan, the top-ranked altcoin blasted through the $800 resistance and quickly …

Equos, a Singapore-based digital currency exchange operated by Diginex, has announced the launch of a new Bitcoin (BTC) futures product without any settlement dates, marking a substantial leap in the BTC derivatives market. The firm introduced the BTC Perpetual Futures Contract on Thursday, a product it says is “well suited to the current trading environment.” The perpetual contract is geared toward professional traders with various risk profiles, with prices and liquidity provided by independent market makers. The exchange claims that its new BTC contract is backstopped by its liquidity reserves, which are partially funded through fees and trading revenue. Unlike …

On Jan. 4, Ether (ETH) price rallied to $1,160, which was followed by a 24% correction within the following four hours. What is clear is that investors are anxiously awaiting the CME's ETH futures launch, which is scheduled for Feb. 8. Another factor driving the current rally is that Ether miners' balances reached a two-year low, a scenario that some analysts view as bullish. The phenomenal growth of total value locked in decentralized finance projects has also played a part, especially considering that the metric reached $17.5 billion over the past week. For the time being, the flow of positive …