Bitcoin put-call options ratio is a bearish indicator for the market, says analyst

The put-call skew ahead of Friday’s week- and month-end bitcoin options expiry is a bearish indicator for the market, an analyst said.

An increase in the number of outstanding puts compared to calls in bitcoin options open interest could be a bearish omen ahead of Friday's expiry.

Deribit Chief Commercial Officer Luuk Strijers said the put-call ratio for bitcoin options across all expiries currently stands at 0.44.

"Focusing on tomorrow's expiry, the ratio adjusts to 0.52, indicating a higher number of puts compared to calls," Strijers told The Block. "This suggests a bearish sentiment for this month's bitcoin options expiry compared to the general trend in open contracts."

The analyst added that the ratio suggests that the market expected a short-term downside for bitcoin, and investors have used puts to hedge.

"However, they see the longer-term as having relatively more upside," he added.

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$BTC

Market volatility causes spike in liquidations

As a result of the heightened market volatility, total liquidations of leveraged crypto positions in the past 24 hours have surpassed $330 million.

The majority of the liquidations involved long positions, leading to a loss of over $290 million, while short positions contributed only around $39 million to the total liquidations, according to Coinglass data.

The bitcoin price has dropped more than 4.5% in the past 24 hours, falling below the $39,000 mark. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is now trading at $38,894 as of 5.17 a.m. ET, according to The Block’s Prices Page.

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3 Countries Agree To Launch BRICS Currency To Challenge US Dollar

The only thing that’s stopping BRICS from launching their new currency is political consent from India and China. The rest of the three original founding countries Brazil, Russia, and South Africa have agreed to the BRICS currency. The extended new members are yet to come to a common consensus with the BRICS currency.

In the latest update, Russia’s former advisor to President Vladimir Putin and economist-turned-politician, Sergey Glazyev, confirmed that the new currency is in the works and is “almost ready”. He explained that three out of the five original founding countries have agreed to launch the new currency.

Source: AFP

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Orbit Chain's bridge reportedly hacked for $81.5 million :

Orbit Bridge, a cross-chain bridge protocol, has seen unusual outflows of $81.5 million in several cryptocurrencies in what appears to be a major hack.

In five separate transactions, each to a fresh wallet, the Orbit Bridge sent $50 million in stablecoins (30 million Tether, 10 million DAI, and 10 million USDC), 231 wBTC (about $10 million), and 9,500 eth (about $21.5 million). The hack was first noticed by X user Kgjr. 

The bridge appears to have close ties to the Klaytn  KLAY -1.90%

 ecosystem; Klaytn's explorer shows that 9 of the top 10 tokens on the network by circulating market cap are Orbit Bridge wrapped assets. 

The exact nature of the hack remains unknown, and Orbit Chain was unable to be immediately reached for comment by The Block.

This is a developing story. 

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🔥 🔥🔥 How blockchain can help solve proof of personhood🔥🔥🔥

A little more than a year ago ChatGPT burst onto the scene, causing tech giants like Google, Microsoft and Meta to simultaneously mobilize, all appearing to be afraid of falling behind when it comes to the innovation and adoption of artificial intelligence, or AI.

With hundreds of millions of people now experimenting with the power of AI chatbots on a monthly basis, the role artificial intelligence plays in our daily lives, especially online, is expected to grow exponentially as more users come to grasp the technology's power.

In a recent conversation with investment firm FT Partners, Tools For Humanity CEO and co-founder Alex Blania discussed concerns related to the idea that one day soon artificial intelligence could drive the bulk of online interactions. If that prediction comes to fruition, discerning who is a real person and who is not on the internet, could become paramount.

"There’s three main areas that you could go into to address the problem," said Blania in December. "One, is KYC (know-your-customer), so basically government infrastructure. Two, you do what people call 'web of trust,' so you know me, I know you, we assign each other a certain trust value … so we build a network of people that know each other.

Blockchain’s reliance on digital ledgers, which serve as an incorruptible database where encrypted information can be stored in a decentralized manner, could be the most effective technology for enabling and managing proof of personhood.

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What headwinds does crypto legislation face in 2024?
Legislative outlook:

Cryptocurrency legislation faces some major headwinds in 2024 including an upcoming election season, potential opposition from Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, and pushback from some lawmakers who are concerned that some of the bills don't go far enough to regulate the sector. 

Crypto had a wild year from the criminal trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and charges against multiple exchanges to some wins in the court for the industry, the downfall of former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and excitement for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund. Going into 2024, lawmakers likely have all that in mind as they work on legislation to reign in the industry. 

The focus has been largely on two Republican-led bills over the past year. One bill wants to regulate stablecoins on the federal level while the other takes a comprehensive approach to crypto's market structure. Both bills passed out of the House Financial Services committee led by Chair Patrick T. McHenry, R-N.C., in July, but would need to be brought to the Senate Banking Committee, which could prove to be a challenge next year. 

"Banking has been a tough nut to crack," said Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., a member of the Senate Banking Committee, in November during a panel at the Blockchain Association Policy Summit. "It is a committee that advances very little legislation and has been reticent in the area of financial assets that are digitally based." 

Chair McHenry, who is viewed as instrumental in pushing the stablecoin and market bill forward, recently announced he planned to retire at the end of his current term in early 2025, which could have an effect on the bills' passage.

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$SOL #WHY #SOL IS PUMPING??? IS THE RISE OVER??? #namus777

SOL Price Prediction 

Looking at the hourly chart, we can see some signs of resistance, as the price has been moving sideways since yesterday’s high. But the support is ascending, indicating buying pressure and a possible breakout above. 

In the short term, the price of SOL can continue for another high to the $146 area – where lies its next resistance – and the previous daily chart shows this trend. But as this is likely the completion of this uptrend, we will see a correction for its larger wave 4. 

Considering the number of broken resistances, it is still unclear where this correction might push back the price, but the most significant one was around $80, which would be our first target. If this scenario plays out, and the price goes back to $80, establishing support, another uptrend should start for its larger wave 5 that could lead the price to a new ATH at the start of 2024. 

Disclaimers

Please note that the contents of this article are not financial or investing advice. The information provided in this article is the author’s opinion only and should not be considered as offering trading or investing recommendations. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information. The cryptocurrency market suffers from high volatility and occasional arbitrary movements. Any investor, trader, or regular crypto users should research multiple viewpoints and be familiar with all local regulations before committing to an investment.

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Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring," except for the largest trading shops in crypto markets.

On the rare occasions when the world's capital markets close, such as on Christmas Day and New Year's Eve, crypto brokerage shops, market makers and over-the-counter trading operations remain open for business and continue to take orders and offer liquidity.

This characteristic stems from crypto markets being 24/7 in general. Digital assets are exchanged continuously across public ledgers, crypto brokerages, exchanges, and a network of trading entities that collectively form the industry's emerging capital markets.

Notably, liquidity providers like Wintermute and GSR are mandated to uphold a certain level of presence, even on Christmas Day, serving as liquidity providers and managing over-the-counter trading desks. Market makers act as intermediaries, supplying buy and sell price quotes to ensure sufficient liquidity for traders to enter and exit specific assets. Meanwhile, an OTC desk caters to larger clients by facilitating off-exchange trading in significant volumes.

"Crypto markets never sleep, and neither does Wintermute's OTC desk," noted Evgeny Gaevoy, co-founder of Wintermute. "We are positioned to serve counter-parties from all geographies, recognizing that in some regions, including parts of Asia, Christmas is observed as a regular working day."

It's a similar story at GSR, which is also "always staffed.