Options

Global markets were notably driven by energy price shocks and geopolitical risks over the past week. Escalating tensions in the Middle East propelled oil prices upward, with WTI surging more than 25% for the week. As a result, the market entered a risk-off phase, prompting BTC, ETH, and US equities to pull back simultaneously. From a macro standpoint, although rising oil prices are unlikely to trigger a recession directly, they could elevate inflation and delay interest rate cuts in the coming months. On-chain activity saw DEX trading volumes remain high, with liquidity further concentrating in top protocols. The total stablecoin market cap climbed to around $330 billion, with USDC emerging as the main source of incremental capital. In the derivatives market, funding rates stayed predominantly negative and option volatility increased, reflecting continued vigilance toward tail risks. Overall, the market is navigating a stage of macro risk repricing and liquidity reallocation. Looking ahead to next week, atten

Gate Options Daily Market Update.

Gate Options Daily Market Update.

Gate Research: Over the past week, macro uncertainty has continued to dominate market pricing. Escalating tensions in the Middle East, tariff expectations, and the ongoing AI narrative have reinforced risk-off sentiment, with capital rotating into defensive assets such as oil, gold, and the Japanese yen, putting pressure on risk assets. BTC declined sharply over the weekend amid thin liquidity conditions, while ETH underperformed BTC overall, leaving the market in a fragile post-deleveraging equilibrium. On-chain data shows event-driven spikes in DEX trading volume, while stablecoin supply has remained elevated but flat, suggesting capital is largely in a wait-and-see mode. In derivatives markets, open interest continues to decline and funding rates remain negative but stable, indicating that overall leverage in the system has been significantly reduced. Meanwhile, mid-tier protocols such as Hyperliquid and Jupiter recorded revenue growth, pointing to a modest rebound in on-chain trading activity. Overall, th

Gate Options Daily Market Update.

Gate Options Daily Market Update.

Gate Options Daily Market Update.

Gate Options Daily Market Update.

The straddle options strategy is a classic volatility trading method that centers on evaluating market volatility rather than making directional price bets. By simultaneously purchasing call and put options with identical expiration dates and strike prices, investors can build positions to take advantage of differences between implied and actual volatility, thereby profiting from volatility mispricing.

Gate Options Daily Market Update.

Looking ahead to early 2026, with marginal improvements in macro liquidity and implied volatility (IV) at relatively low levels, the market may enter a high-level consolidation and accumulation phase. Should trading volume and realized volatility rebound in tandem, BTC and ETH could see a phase-wise upside breakout.

Gate Research: Bitcoin’s short-term trend remains bearish, with prices consolidating below key resistance levels. Ethereum is also trading within a descending channel, reflecting continued uncertainty over market direction.BEEFI surged 31.72%, driven primarily by technical momentum, while ZBT jumped 35.50% following a strategic technology upgrade. This Friday marks the largest Bitcoin options expiry on record. Nvidia has agreed to acquire AI chip startup Groq for approximately $20 billion in cash, its largest acquisition to date. Meanwhile, Maple Finance completed a record-breaking single loan of $500 million, with outstanding borrows on the platform reaching an all-time high.

As the Christmas holiday approaches, global markets are entering a low-liquidity phase. Whether Donald Trump will announce the nomination of a new Fed Chair during the holiday period has become a key source of uncertainty. Meanwhile, spot gold has surged past USD 4,500 per ounce for the first time, setting a new all-time high. Rising risk-off sentiment has created a temporary “liquidity siphon” effect on high-volatility assets such as cryptocurrencies. Against this backdrop, a record USD 28.5 billion in combined BTC and ETH options are set to expire this Friday. With liquidity tightening and implied volatility (IV) declining, short-term hedging demand and gamma adjustments may amplify market fluctuations.

Gate Research: On December 19, the crypto market as a whole displayed a synchronized pullback pattern, with risk appetite continuing to cool. BTC surged briefly after the CPI-driven rally but then retreated, leaving its bearish structure unchanged; ETH followed suit in weakness, consolidating under pressure within its range. Market sentiment is primarily characterized by proactive de-risking and awaiting repricing, with the short term likely entering a phase of sideways oscillation and digestion. Tokens such as JELLYJELLY and NBLU bucked the trend and strengthened amid speculative fervor, while IR rose driven by new token listings and exchange-related activity. In terms of hotspots, $23 billion in BTC options are imminent for expiry; Lido DAO has applied for a $60 million ecosystem budget to accelerate its transformation; JPMorgan forecasts that the total stablecoin market cap will reach approximately $500–600 billion by 2028.

Over the past week, the crypto market has continued to trade in a range near key support levels. BTC and ETH both experienced several rapid rallies and pullbacks, but prices quickly returned to consolidation ranges, indicating that current price action is largely driven by existing capital repeatedly trading in a relatively thin-liquidity environment, with no clear entry of trend-driven incremental capital. At the same time, leveraged positioning has continued to unwind: options open interest (OI) declined overall and became highly concentrated around the December 26 expiry, with an estimated USD 26.5 billion in notional value set to expire. Spot trading volumes remain subdued, making prices more sensitive to marginal capital flows and further amplifying short-term volatility.