cryptocurrency marketIn these days when it becomes increasingly difficult to determine the direction of the market, the divergence between the option preferences of institutional investors draws attention. Bitcoin 
$103,128.64 While volatility-oriented strategies come to the fore due to increasing uncertainty on the XRP There are large investors who are positioned in the opposite direction. Block option transactions processed on Deribit in the last week revealed that the risk perception between the two assets has diverged sharply. The choice of different strategies shows that expectations for the future of price movements are now determined by asset-specific dynamics.
Volatility Expectation in Bitcoin
Deribit data Bitcoin It reveals that non-directional strategies have increased significantly in the options market. In the last week, 16.9 percent of block transactions were strangle and 5 percent were straddle. The two strategies together exceeded one-fifth of the total flow. At the heart of this trend is the fact that although investors have accepted the expectation of sharp price movements, the direction is not clear. CEO of Deribit Luuk StrijersAccording to ‘s assessment, market makers and large portfolio managers are taking flexible positions, anticipating that the uncertainty may be permanent.
For those who don’t know stangle And straddle positions provide positioning against sharp movements of the price outside the expected ranges. In an environment where Bitcoin is around $104,700, a long strangle established by purchasing $105,000 call and $104,400 put at the same time offers the opportunity to benefit from wide price movements while keeping the cost low. Execution of large block transactions by institutional investors through over-the-counter channels allows them to manage risk without leaving a mark on the market. This approach Bitcoin options marketIt is supported by high liquidity thanks to the open position size of over 44 billion dollars.
Ethereum 
$3,510.67 While the dominant strategy of the last week on the side was the put diagonal spread, the share of volatility-oriented positions in the total block flow for ETH remained around 8 percent. This chart points to a more balanced approach in Ethereum, where directional expectation is not as strong as in Bitcoin, but emphasizes taking advantage of time value.
Risky Choice of Investors Confident in the Calm Price Range in XRP
XRP options market Even though they are quite small in terms of volume, large-scale block transactions that occur from time to time create an impact in the market. Despite the open position size of approximately 67.6 million dollars, over-the-counter transactions by institutional investors are important in terms of showing where price expectations are stuck. The most remarkable move of the week paradigm It was a short strangle position consisting of 40,000 $2.2 call sales and 40,000 $2.6 put sales executed via Deribit and recorded in Deribit. The transaction, which resulted in an average premium of 0.0965 USDC, reflects the investor’s expectation that the price will remain in a narrow band.
Deribit Asia business development manager Lin ChenAccording to , XRP’s at-the-money volatility has risen above 80, pricing in macro uncertainties. The process of closing and reopening the government in the USA and the possibility of a December interest rate cut becoming increasingly controversial are leading large investors to seek returns through option premiums. The investor who prefers a short strangle aims for a high premium return by predicting that the price will not move away from the 2.2-2.6 dollar range. However, since an unexpected increase in volatility can theoretically lead to unlimited losses, this strategy is preferred only by professionals with a high risk appetite.
The narrow band expectation on XRP contrasts with the strong perception of the possibility of a sharp move on the Bitcoin side. Thus, a picture emerges in which the two assets are valued by institutional investments with completely different market structures. While directionless but volatility-oriented positioning predominates in Bitcoin, the quest to gain premium based on the expectation of a stable price range comes to the fore in XRP.
