While Ether options trade for much less time than Bitcoin options, they have done a remarkable job of catching up. Bitcoin was the dominant crypto options asset, with millions of dollars flooding into it. But the tide started to change in the 3rd Quarter of 2022 as an important update regarding the Ethereum Merge spurred a surge in interest in Ether Options.
Bitcoin is outsold by Ether Options
Since January 2020 when Ether Options first appeared on the market, it has experienced steady growth. Although Ether options has grown in value, the bitcoin options remain higher, with open interest pouring into this pioneer cryptocurrency. Then in July 2022, Ethereum developers made an announcement regarding the network’s upgrade to a proof of stake mechanism, and this would change the game completely.
Interest in Ether options has exploded, leading to an unprecedented rise. With an open interest in the region of $5.4 billion, it had reached $8.1billion, more than twice as high as bitcoin. Ether options continue to rise in value, outpacing bitcoin each day.
Public miners are able to sell BTC more than what they have produced. Source: Arcane Research| Source: Arcane Research
This rise has Ether options at 100% recovery, compared with bitcoin which is still trailing at 70%. This is the first ever time that Ethereum’s open interest has exceeded that of bitcoin. It was all due to the highly anticipated Ethereum Merge.
Are You Ready for The Flipping?
The “flippening” is a word that has come to mean Ether surpassing bitcoin in value. This view has mainly emerged from the fact that the performance in ETH over BTC has been better than that of BTC year-to-year. Some investors believe that the digital asset will eventually flip Bitcoin and become even more valuable.
It is not known when flippening will occur. The flippening discussions begin when Ether surpasses Bitcoin in any measure. This has also been true for ETH options that have grown larger than BTC.
The price of Ethereum drops to $1,800| Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com
Currently, BTC has a price that is 10x greater than ETH. So if flippening is possible, ETH will have to increase 1,000% and BTC would remain unchanged. It is not likely that this will happen as the BTC price actually moves with the market.
However, as the Merge draws closer and what is referred to as a “Triple halvening” is imminent, ETH will likely further close the gap between it and bitcoin. This event would see less supply of ETH in the market, giving it a genuinely deflationary model to be able to rival bitcoin’s limited supply.
Featured image taken from MARCA and charts from Arcane Research and TradingView.com
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