- A record $1.5 billion worth of ether options is set to expire on Friday.
- Experts see short- and long-term opportunities arising from the volatility that may occur.
- Insider asked six crypto investors and influencers for their outlooks on what may happen next.
Traders’ eyes are glued to their screens on Friday as $1.5 billion worth of ether options is expiring today.
Given ether’s initial 16% plunge and then 56% surge within three weeks after its March 26 expiry, some are calling the latest expiry a make-or-break moment for bulls and bears.
With tales of forced liquidations and million-dollar losses amid recent bouts of corrections in the crypto market, it makes sense that investors are nervous about the outcome.
Steve Ehrlich, the chief executive of the crypto brokerage Voyager Digital, said he expected to see more near-term price volatility.
He added that among the expiring options, there was a significant number of call options at and over $2,200, which means about 73% of the call options will be rendered worthless if ether is under this price by the time of expiry today.
On the other hand, a majority of the put options are at $2,100 or lower, meaning these options will be virtually worthless if ether’s price goes above this level, he said.
Because ether was hovering just above $2,000 as of Thursday afternoon, the price can head toward either direction.
“If it remains at this level by Friday, investors with in-the-money put options may likely exercise their contracts,” he said on Thursday, “which will cause an initial downward pressure on ETH’s price due to oversupply on the sell side.”
Despite the near-term downward price pressure, Ehrlich said investors should not be too fixated on short-term volatility. Instead, he said he noticed that many Voyager users were continuing to buy ether as it held the top spot on its 24-hour net buys.
“For many investors, ethereum is a long-term asset given its real-world use cases and accelerating technology,” he said. “While it’s possible there may be a price drop at the expiry, many will see…
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