Bitcoin memorabilia are seen at Pubkey Bar (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Derivatives for degens

Options on bitcoin ETFs to begin trading today

A new way to bet on bitcoin’s price is entering the trading scene.

11/19/24 10:10AM

That was fast. Options on spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds will start today, less than a year after the funds came into existence.

Bloomberg reported that Nasdaq will list options on BlackRock’s $43 billion BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, “allowing investors to use derivatives to bet on or against the world’s largest digital asset.” Last night, Barron’s reported that a Nasdaq spokesperson confirmed the move.

The Securities and Exchange Commission approved spot bitcoin ETFs in January and approved spot ethereum ETFs later this year. Bitcoin ETFs have garnered immense interest, with The Block reporting they have surpassed $500 billion in trading volume since launch.

Options on these ETFs will enable crypto investors to have more flexibility with investment strategies, including the ability to hedge and speculate on bitcoin market movements.

The listing comes as interest in crypto, particularly bitcoin, has spiked following a postelection rally that’s seen the price of BTC pass $92,000.

Sylvia Jablonski, CEO and CIO of Defiance ETF, said that the availability of options on bitcoin ETFs would likely continue to feed the popularity and volume of these funds. That, in turn, could affect the underlying asset’s price.

“Having options listable on BTC funds allows investors to manage risk, generate income by selling covered calls or puts, credit spreads, and even leverage their returns,” Jablonski said.

Jablonski said that options on the ETFs could provide added flexibility for investors looking to gain bitcoin exposure or hedge their crypto holdings.

“Also, in my experience, once options list, both the options and underlying asset tend to see an uptick in volume,” Jablonski said.

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy is a financial journalist who’s written for Dow Jones, The Financial Times Group, and Business Insider, among others.

Sage D. Young3/20/26

Altcoin trading activity has lost its mojo

Non-bitcoin cryptocurrencies have seen their trading volume plummet in the past five months. The combined trading volume of ethereum, XRP, solana, dogecoin, SUI, and chainlink has decreased by 60% since crypto’s October 10 liquidation event, according to Thomas Probst, a research analyst at crypto markets data provider Kaiko.

Main Altcoins Trading Volume in USD — The trading volume of ETH, SOL, XRP, DOGE, SUI, and LINK.

For all altcoins, spot trading volume on Binance has declined between 80% and 85% to $7.7 billion, while altcoin volume on other exchanges has dropped to $18.8 billion, down from a range of $63 billion to $91 billion in October, a Friday report from Decrypt found, citing data from CryptoQuant.

“This trend may be explained by a contraction in market liquidity over the same period,” Probst told Sherwood News. “This phenomenon is also reflected in the average 1% market depth, which stood at approximately $2.6 million before the October 10 crash and is now closer to $1.7 million when aggregated across ETH, XRP, SOL, SUI, and LINK.”

Market depth is used by investors and traders to gauge the scale of liquidity in a market. 1% market depth refers to the amount of liquidity needed to move the market by 1%.

CoinGlass’s Altcoin Season Index, a measure to assess the performance of non-bitcoin cryptocurrencies, has been sitting above 50 this week, suggesting that the current market is neither in a bitcoin dominant phase nor an altcoin season.

“Triple witching” day may put further pressure on bitcoin’s price

This is not “a favorable environment for risk assets.”

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy3/20/26

Sage D. Young

3/19/26

Hyperliquid is the “1,000 pound gorilla in the room” leading year-to-date market gains amid conflict in the Middle East

While the crypto industry has shed $564.3 billion in 2026, Hyperliquid’s native token has bucked the downtrend and jumped 54.8% year to date.

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy

3/19/26

Bitcoin tumbles as oil and gas prices spike and the market’s mood turns risk-off

Bitcoin ETFs reverted to outflows and bitcoin suffered $192 million in liquidations in the past 24 hours.

Sage D. Young3/18/26

Payward, parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, puts plans for IPO on hold

Payward, crypto exchange Kraken’s parent company, has paused its plans for an initial public offering until market conditions improve, according to a report from CoinDesk that cited two people with knowledge of the matter.

Since the firm announced in November its preparation for an IPO of its common stock, the total market capitalization of the crypto industry has shed around $652.2 billion, from $3.2 trillion to $2.5 trillion as of Wednesday, data from CoinGecko shows.

The news comes two weeks after Kraken received approval for a master account from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, allowing the crypto exchange to connect to the Fed’s payment infrastructure used by traditional banks and credit unions.

Last year, Kraken raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation from institutional investors such as Jane Street and Citadel Securities.

Payward, parent of crypto exchange Kraken, has put its IPO plans on hold