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Higher spot volumes on Wednesday – and record volumes over the past month – are helping to push bitcoin higher. Meanwhile, the ether options for December exceed 550,000 ETH.
- Bitcoin (BTC) traded around $ 17,688 at 21:00 UTC (16:00 ET). Gain of 0.17% compared to the previous 24 hours.
- Bitcoin 24 Hour Range: $ 17,571- $ 18,474 (CoinDesk 20)
- BTC below its 10-day moving average but above 50 days, a sideways signal for market technicians.
Bitcoin gained for a third consecutive day this week, hitting $ 18,474 according to data from CoinDesk 20. The price, however, dropped to $ 17,688 at press time.
Read more: The Bitcoin indicator suggests that the bull market is still in an early stage
The last time bitcoin was in this range occurred way back in December 2017. “In general, market sentiment is still very bullish,” said Andrew Tu, an executive at quantum company Efficient Frontier. “It is possible for us to hover between $ 17,500 and $ 18,300 for a while. However, it seems likely that we will break the $ 18,300 resistance in the next few days. ”
Constantin Kogan, a partner at Wave Financial, points to an area of ”resistance” from $ 18,690 to $ 18,950 in which the trading books have a number of accumulated sell orders, although he expects bitcoin to push above soon. of that. “I am optimistic, personally,” he told CoinDesk.
Volumes were much higher than normal on Wednesday, with major USD / BTC spots over $ 1.6 billion at press time, surpassing last month’s November 5 high.
“We had a big increase from $ 13,200, which was just a couple of weeks ago, and I think it’s now going to an all-time high,” noted Rupert Douglas, head of institutional sales for Koine crypto brokerage. However, Douglas’ perspective mirrors Sir Isaac Newton’s famous saying that what goes up must come down. “At some point we will see a flush of up to $ 13,000. The trend is rising, but it won’t be without volatility, ”Douglas said.
The bitcoin derivatives market, which was nascent in the last big bull run, continues to see an increase in open interest. Bitcoin options at major venues, for example, are at over $ 4 billion at press time, the highest they’ve ever been and a sign that some smart money is trying to hedge the risks that volatility may or may not bring.
“Today’s active options market – which was non-existent in 2017 – is keeping tabs on any meteoric rises,” said Micah Erstling, a trader at GSR.
However, Erstling sees more money accumulating due to the astonishing performance of cryptocurrencies so far in 2020. “Experienced investors find it increasingly difficult to argue with bitcoin’s performance – over 133% year to date and up to 100% in the last year.”
Ether options traders bet on 2.0
The second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, ether (ETH), fell Wednesday, trading around $ 472 and slipping 2% in 24 hours at 21:00 UTC (16:00 ET).
Read more: Ethereum Classic gets DeFi treatment with ETC wrapped
The amount of ether options open for the December expiration exceeded 550,000 ETH, worth over $ 260 million at press time.
Traders are likely betting on the future of Ethereum’s technical roadmap on “2.0”, an ambitious effort to stake and greater efficiency when porting its native asset, ether.
“Our theory is that this model of open interest in ETH was strictly due to the positioning of traders for a launch of ETH 2.0 phase 0, or yet another delay,” said Greg Magadini, chief executive of the data aggregator on options. Genesis Volatility. “Even though BTC options had been concentrated in several months of expiration, ETH consistently had concentrated open interest in December.”
Other markets
Digital assets on CoinDesk 20 are mixed Wednesday, mostly red. Notable Winners at 9pm UTC (4pm ET):
Read more: Zcash Undergoes First Halving As Major Update Releases’ Founders’ Reward ‘
- Oil increased by 0.69%. West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil Barrel Price: $ 41.64.
- Gold was 0.51% in the red and at $ 1.869 at press time.
- The yield on 10-year US Treasuries rose to 0.870 and in the green by 1.5% on Wednesday.
