RichBeak News [EN]:How options expiration will affect BTC and ETHA large number of bitcoin (BTC)

RichBeak News [EN]:
How options expiration will affect BTC and ETH

A large number of bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) options expire today. We break down how this will affect the price of the underlying assets.

Cryptocurrency options are derivative contracts that allow traders to buy or sell an asset at a specific price on a specific expiration date. If the option holder chooses not to buy or sell the cryptocurrency, they are not obligated to do so. This makes options a more flexible instrument than futures, which are obligated to close out a position regardless of profit or loss.

The notional value of the 21,045 BTC and 353,893 ETH contracts expiring soon is $1.4 billion and $1.34 million, respectively. Let's see if the expiration can provoke increased volatility in the market and affect the price of the two largest cryptocurrencies by capitalization.

All eyes on Ethereum

According to Deribit, the put/call options ratio on BTC is holding at 0.88. This means that traders are still selling more calls or long contracts than puts or short contracts. The maximum pain point - that is, the price at which the asset will cause financial losses to the largest number of holders - is at $67,000.

The put/call ratio of options on Ethereum is 0.57, and the maximum pain point is at $3,200.

"BTC, as expected, retreated amid very strong support for the ETH price. That said, the current weighted implied volatility of ETH is still above 100%, while the equivalent figure for BTC is only 50%. The main reason for this rare phenomenon was, of course, the uncertainty of ETF approval. Judging by the structure of positions in the market, the current level of divergence has already exceeded what it was during the period of ETH's transition to P-o-S. Thus, it is man-made policy that is the biggest uncertainty," they share.

Central Bank of India Governor: 'Cryptocurrencies are a buzzword for money scams'

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has urged retail investors to refrain from investing in digital assets. According to the regulator, the crypto ecosystem lacks transparency, stability and clear regulatory rules.

The Central Bank of India warned that many cryptocurrency projects could be vulnerable to financial collapse, as investors cannot rely on protective measures for potential monetary losses due to the lack of regulation. The central bank researchers emphasized that users' interest in cryptocurrencies is driven by speculative motives rather than the ability to use crypto assets to make remittances and payments.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that some cryptocurrencies may be backed by some underlying asset: government currency or precious metals. However, if that underlying asset is another unstable digital asset with no central bank backing, there could be a crisis in the crypto space. 

Das noted that decentralized finance (DeFi) continues to evolve and interact more closely with the traditional financial system. Therefore, the risks of DeFi need to be carefully analyzed.

"Cryptoassets and private cryptocurrencies - it is now fashionable to use these terms to refer to activities that are 100 percent money speculation and fraud," Das said.

Charles Hoskinson: "The crypto industry doesn't need Bitcoin anymore"

Cardano founder criticized Bitcoin supporters and compared the first cryptocurrency to a religious symbol. In his opinion, the modern crypto industry has outgrown its dependence on Bitcoin and does not need it.

Charles Hoskinson (Charles Hoskinson) pointed out Bitcoin's lack of adaptability and its excessive dependence on the Proof-of-Work (PoW) algorithm. 

He emphasized that, for example, corporations such as Microsoft had to adjust to new technological trends in the form of laptops and smartphones to stay in the market. According to him, bitcoin is incapable of change and has turned into a religious system, and its supporters cannot accept "objective reality."

"The industry no longer needs Bitcoin to survive. Remember, at the end of the day, it's just a token with a deflationary monetary policy," he said.

Cardano, unlike Bitcoin, runs on a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm, and the goal of creating this blockchain was to address the scalability and sustainability of the ecosystem.

SEC approves spot exchange-traded funds for ether

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved spot ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Bitwise, VanEck, Ark, Invesco Galaxy and Franklin Templeton.

The decision to approve spot ether ETFs was made by the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets, not the commissioners. SEC head Gary Gensler did not vote to approve the applications.

Although regulators have approved the listing of spot ether ETFs on exchanges, issuers need their S-1 registration statements to become effective before they can begin trading. Eric Balchunas, senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, emphasized that it could take several weeks for the S-1 documents to be approved:

"It's only 19b-4 approval. You also need to approve the S-1 documents, which will take time. We expect it to take a couple weeks, but it could take longer. Should know more within a week or so."

Digital assets lawyer Justin Browder pointed out that the approval of spot ETFs for ether means that the cryptocurrency, like other altcoins, is not a security.

Representatives of U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said that, as with most spot bitcoin ETFs, the platform will serve almost all issuers of spot ether exchange-traded funds.

Coinbase exchange loses Dogecoin lottery dispute at US Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, ruling that a class action lawsuit over the 2021 Dogecoin raffle is subject to review by a common law court.

On Thursday, May 23, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Jackson ruled: it is illegal to attempt to transfer the handling of a class action lawsuit related to the Coinbase Dogecoin 2021 raffle to private arbitrators. Cases of this nature are under the jurisdiction of general courts responsible for adjudicating disputes between individuals and organizations.

In June 2021, Coinbase launched a lottery to win $1.2 million in Dogecoin meme tokens. Participation required registering on the exchange and buying $100 or more worth of DOGE.

A group of users later filed a class action lawsuit against Coinbase, claiming that the company misled customers about the terms of the lottery. Specifically, it failed to disclose that you don't have to buy Dogecoin to participate in the lottery, and artificially inflated the market price of DOGE to encourage users to spend more on digital assets.

Coinbase wanted the Dogecoin lottery case to be heard in arbitration, rather than in a regular court, for a number of reasons:

-- First, arbitration proceedings are confidential, access to information about them is initially difficult and does not quickly affect the company's reputation. 
-- Second, the parties to the arbitration choose the arbitrators who will hear the case. Therefore, Coinbase would have a chance to choose arbitrators who are more favorable. 
-- Finally, the decisions of arbitration courts in the U.S. are generally final and cannot be appealed by a court of general jurisdiction. In this way, Coinbase could avoid the possibility of appealing the decision.

Vitalik Buterin got Starknet to $1 million, STRK price up 3%

Vitalik Buterin today unlocked and received 845,205 STRK as part of the Ethereum L2 Starknet Locked Token Grant contract worth approximately $1.07 million. This deal marks a notable milestone for Starknet, highlighting Buterin's involvement not only as a co-founder of Ethereum, but also as one of the first and dedicated investors in Starknet. His early investment and recent unlocking of the token demonstrates his confidence in Starknet's ability to increase the scalability and efficiency of Ethereum.

The issuance of these tokens to Buterin reflects a broader strategy to incentivize key participants and thought leaders in the blockchain community to support and advance the technological structure and adoption of Starknet. This participation is expected to catalyze further innovation and bring more attention to Starknet's growing role in the Ethereum ecosystem.

Against the backdrop of this event, the price of Starknet (STRK) has risen markedly. At the time of writing, STRK is trading at $1.36 with a 24-hour trading volume of $225.2 million. This represents a price increase of 2.29% over the past 24 hours and an increase of 11.57% over the past seven days. Starknet's market performance is supported by a circulating supply of 1.1 billion STRK, giving it a market capitalization of approximately $1.4 billion.

Standard Chartered has named contenders to launch an ETF in 2025

A new phase for exchange traded funds is likely to start in 2025. The next cryptocurrencies in line are SOL and XRP. Jeffrey Kendrick, head of research at Standard Chartered, told The Block.

"For other coins like SOL and XRP, the markets will also look forward to seeing their ETF, although it's likely to be a 2025 story rather than 2024," he clarified.

The approval of spot Ethereum funds assumes that the SEC does not classify the second most capitalized cryptocurrency as a security, Kendrick noted. The analyst believes that because of this, the way is now open for coins like ETH to enter the traditional sector:

"In some cases, the underlying technology [of other blockchains] is so similar to Ethereum that it would be difficult for regulators to call them securities. The crypto industry now seems to have political support on both sides."

He called the support for digital assets in the U.S. "a real game changer." In his view, the next question is not whether the market will see further regulatory change, but when it will happen.

Binance CEO commented on the approval of spot Ethereum-ETFs

-- Richard Teng gave his opinion on the approval of spot Ethereum-ETFs.
-- Binance CEO called it a landmark event for the cryptocurrency industry.

The CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, Richard Teng, commented on the Incrypted approval of spot Ethereum-ETFs. He called it a landmark event for the cryptocurrency industry.

"This is an important step that confirms the recognition and increasing acceptance of digital assets within traditional frameworks, particularly in a market as influential as the US. [...] Prior to today's decision, there were already 27 active Ethereum-ETFs trading in seven geographic markets, as well as 32 spot bitcoin-ETFs in five different geographic markets," Teng said.

He said the fact that the SEC has approved these products not only reinforces Ethereum's status as an asset, but also increases the potential for growth in the broader digital asset ecosystem.

The Binance CEO also predicted that investment in spot Ethereum-ETFs is likely to be constant and stable. Teng mentioned that capital inflows into bitcoin funds totaled more than $13.3 billion in the first five months and expects a similar scenario for Ethereum-ETFs.

"We are confident that this decision will drive further regulatory acceptance, paving the way for more mainstream adoption of digital assets around the world - whether Ethereum, bitcoin or other [cryptocurrencies]," the Binance CEO concluded.

Bloomberg: FTX held an auction to sell Solana tokens

-- Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has completed the auction of Solana tokens.
-- According to media reports, buyers include the Pantera Capital fund and Figure Markets.

FTX collectively raised about $2.6 billion in the asset sale.
The collapsed crypto exchange FTX has completed the auction of Solana tokens (SOL) to large companies and funds. This is reported by Bloomberg, citing its own sources familiar with the details of the sale.

During the auction, which lasted for several weeks, FTX totaled $2.6 billion worth of Solana (SOL). The source claims that buyers received coins at a significant discount of up to 50%.

According to media reports, some of the latest buyers were Figure Markets and the Pantera Capital fund. Specifically, Figure Markets purchased about 800,000 SOLs at a price of about $102 per token. Meanwhile, the current price of the asset is around $166, according to TradingView.

The report said that Pantera Capital also invested in the purchase of Solana in the latest FTX auction. However, the details of the deal, the exact number of tokens and the price of SOL at the time of the sale are unknown.

Meanwhile, in March 2024, it was revealed that Pantera Capital plans to buy Solana tokens from FTX for $250 million. The agreement provides for a four-year vesting period. This means that after one year, shareholders will receive only 25% of their contributions.

Recall, the crypto exchange FTX is one of the largest hodlers of Solana. In March, it held about 41.1 million SOL.

The company filed a petition to sell its crypto portfolio in August 2023. At the time, it was valued at $3.4 billion. Most of those assets are Solana tokens.

By the end of 2023, the Solana ecosystem had seen significant growth.

In April 2024, it became known that FTX will sell the next batch of Solana tokens through an auction. Some analysts believe that it was the successful sale of past batches of the asset that forced FTX to change the scheme.

Bitget report: futures trading volume on the exchange grew 146% in April

Bitget has released its monthly report for April 2024, marking a 146% increase in futures trading volume in the first quarter of 2024 to $1.4 trillion. CCdata revealed that Bitget recorded the highest increase of 1.39% among the 14 largest derivatives exchanges.

Bitget continues to grow its in the cryptocurrency derivatives market: On May 4, the Open Interest Indicator (OI) exceeded $6 billion, giving the exchange a 25% share of the total market. Currently, Bitget maintains its position: OI stands at $6.22 billion.

At the same time, the total volume of open futures contracts exceeds the level of the BTC market price, indicating a bullish mood among traders regarding the bitcoin price trajectory.

April saw an increase in the number of new Bitget derivatives trader accounts, resulting in a 23% increase. Notably, 82% of these accounts opened positions in the BTC-USDT pair. Open BTC positions on the Bitget futures market maintain a dominant share, consistently exceeding 60%.

Shiba Inu stalls amid rising stock market deposits

Let's take a look at the price dynamics of Shiba Inu (SHIB) using key technical indicators on daily and four-hour timeframes

We decided to analyze the recent price dynamics of the popular memcoin Shiba Inu (SHIB), paying special attention to the signals of the Ishimoku cloud and recent trends in the segment of exchange deposits.

Analyzing the daily and four-hour timeframes
Shiba Inu price failed to enter the daily Ishimoku cloud at the upper part and is now approaching the medium-term support level represented by the red plateau of the Tenkan line. The 100 EMA (exponential moving average) on the daily timeframe serves as a critical medium-term support level for SHIB.

The Tenkan line, or conversion line, is a key part of the Ishimoku system. It shows the average of the high and low prices over the last nine periods, outlining short-term price trends.

Meaning of the Tenkan Line Plateau
-- Plateau Formation: When the Tenkan Line levels out, it indicates a balance between buyers and sellers, creating important market levels.
-- Support: If price is above the Tenkan plateau and declining, the plateau can serve as a support level where buyers can come into play.
-- Resistance: If the price is below the Tenkan Plateau and rising, the plateau can serve as a resistance level where sellers can come into play.

A similar pattern can be seen on the four-hour timeframe. The price is trying to break below the Ishimoku cloud, which may accelerate the decline. If it tests this level, the lower boundary of the cloud will be a critical support level.

In addition, the price broke below the 100 EMA on the four-hour timeframe, which is also a bearish sign.

Together, these signals emphasize the importance of this zone as a resistance area. A break above it can trigger a large-scale growth of 10%-20%. If the price remains below the 100EMA on the 4-hour chart, it may indicate a continuation of the bearish trend and a potential fall to $0.00002000.

Hong Kong crypto exchange HashKey has added Solana to its platform

International cryptocurrency exchange HashKey Global, launched by HashKey Group, expands the list of supported assets by adding Solana (SOL). This was announced by the representatives of the platform in a press release published today. In addition, it is indicated that the spot trading pair SOL/USDT is already available for trading.

In addition to the new cryptocurrency pair, on HashKey Global users are available transactions with bitcoin, ether, Dogecoin and some other popular digital assets. According to the exchange, transactions on the platform are not yet available for customers from the US and China.

Hong Kong-based HashKey Group launched an international version of its cryptocurrency exchange in early April 2024 in an attempt to attract more customers around the world. According to HashKey Group CEO Livio Wen, "the local market was not that big," so it needed to "push the boundaries" to grow.

The crypto exchange plans to raise additional funding to support its international business initiatives. It is known that HashKey Group is already negotiating with potential investors from different countries. Experts believe that the new round of funding will exceed the $100 million mark, which the company received during the previous fundraising.