Ethereum price rallies above $400 resistance on bullish ETH options data

Ether (ETH) options open interest grew by 230% to reach $393 million in the past three months. Although this is an impressive figure, it doesn’t fully reflect how the derivative instruments being used.

The first thing one should take note of is the most used price levels (strikes). Once again, this information does not provide a clear picture of whether these options are mostly used for bullish or bearish strategies. In general, a chart heavily populated with strikes below the current market level indicates that either traders were taken by surprise due to a recent hike, or fewer investors are currently bullish.

According to the above data, there are presently 535K Ether options open interest with strikes at $380 and below. On the other hand, there are only 243K Ether options at $425 or higher. This could be partially be explained by the 68% bull run to the $400 level which occurred in late July, although this is not necessarily a positive indicator.

Unlike futures contracts, options are divided into two segments. Call (buy) options allow the buyer to acquire Ether at a fixed price on the expiry date. On the other hand, the seller of the instrument will be obliged to make the Ether sale. By measuring whether more activity is going through call (buy) options or put (sell) options, it is possible to gauge an overall market sentiment.

There are currently 21% fewer put (sell) options open interest relative to call (buy) instruments. This is the lowest level in 3 months and indicates an overall bullishness from options traders.

Ethereum price rallies above $400 resistance on bullish ETH options data, CoinTelegraph, Aug 31