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How Will Markets React to $2B Bitcoin Options Expiring Today?

Approximately 20,000 Bitcoin options contracts will expire on Friday, Jan. 3, in the first such event of 2025. They have a notional value of $1.93 billion, which is a fraction of last week’s mammoth end-of-year expiry event, so the impact on spot markets is likely to be minimal. Bitcoin Options Expiry This week’s batch of Bitcoin options contracts has a put/call ratio of 0.68, meaning that there are more long (call) contracts expiring than short (put) contract sellers. Open interest, or the value or number of options contracts yet to expire, is highest at the $120,000 strike price, with $1.4 billion in OI, according to Deribit. There is also $1.3 billion in OI at $110,000, so derivatives traders remain bullish with open contracts at higher strike prices. Bitcoin options OI by expiry. Source: Deribit On Jan. 2, Deribit reported that the continuous trading market, or perpetual swaps, is showing more optimistic signals, similar to what was seen before the recent downturn. “Options markets report a similarly mixed message: BTC’s short-tenor volatility smiles remain slightly more skewed toward OTM puts, while longer tenors have increased their bullish tilt.” It added that December’s end-of-year expiration of a significant proportion of the market’s OI in options “did not result in the fireworks that some expected.” Earlier this week, crypto derivatives provider Greeks Live observed that a major short call position had been put on Bitcoin with a notional value of $42 million. The speculator is betting that BTC will not exceed $150,000 by March 28 and stands to net $900,000 from the bet if successful. In addition to today’s Bitcoin options, around 205,000 Ethereum contracts are expiring today. These have a notional value of $710 million and a put/call ratio of 0.82. This brings Friday’s combined crypto options expiry notional value to around $2.6 billion. Crypto Market Outlook Around $160 billion has entered crypto markets since the beginning of the year on Wednesday, lifting total capitalization to $3.56 trillion. Bitcoin has had a solid 24 hours, gaining 1.7% to stand close to the $97,000 level during early trading in Asia on Friday. However, it remains range-bound and needs to clear resistance at the psychological $100,000 level to see further momentum. Meanwhile, Ethereum, which has been predicted to perform well this quarter, has fared better, gaining 2% on the day as it approaches the $3,500 price level. ETH needs to clear $3,600 to break resistance and notch further gains. The altcoins were pretty much all in the green this Friday, with most of them outpacing Bitcoin on daily gains. The post How Will Markets React to $2B Bitcoin Options Expiring Today? appeared first on CryptoPotato . CryptoNewsZ

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Celsius Appeals Court Ruling Dismissing its $444M Claim Against FTX

The bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network has filed an appeal challenging a court ruling that dismissed its $444 million claim against the defunct crypto exchange FTX. The appeal , which is currently awaiting review in the District Court, comes as part of Celsius’ ongoing litigation efforts to recover funds from FTX. Celsius’ Initial Claim According to court documents, Celsius had originally filed a claim of up to $2 billion in damages from FTX. The claim alleged that FTX officials had made “unsubstantiated and disparaging statements” against Celsius, which undermined its reputation and accelerated its collapse in 2022. However, before the bar date in July 2024, the company amended the claim to $444 million, stating that the new claim would focus on “preferential transfers” that allegedly gave some creditors an advantage over others. In December, Judge John Dorsey, the magistrate in charge of the case, rejected both claims. He pointed out the procedural flaws in Celsius’ filings, stating that they lacked sufficient evidence to maintain the preference claims. Judge Dorsey criticized Celsius’ amended filing, stating that it was improper since the company did not seek court approval. He also noted that the content of the amended claims was not remotely related to the original claims and could obstruct FTX’s restructuring plans. On December 31, Celsius’ litigation administrator, Mohsin Meghji, officially filed a notice of appeal disputing Judge Dorsey’s ruling. In the filing, Celsius argued that its initial fillings met all the requirements of the Bankruptcy Code despite lacking a detailed explanation. The company intends to continue pursuing the case to recover the disputed claim. Celsius’ Repayment Efforts Despite its legal woes, Celsius has made considerable progress to repay its creditors. In August 2024, the company began its repayment effort, distributing $2.5 billion in crypto and cash to more than 250,000 creditors in over 165 countries. In a more recent court filing in November, Celsius announced plans to disburse an additional $127 million to creditors. The company pointed out that this second payout will be made from funds recovered through its litigation efforts. The post Celsius Appeals Court Ruling Dismissing its $444M Claim Against FTX appeared first on CryptoPotato . CryptoNewsZ