Tanahub.com — Bitcoin options ETF on BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) began trading on Nasdaq on Tuesday, November 19, 2024.
Options trading allows investors to bet on whether Bitcoin prices will rise or fall within a certain timeframe. By buying or selling assets at a predetermined price, options provide a way for investors to profit from sharp Bitcoin price fluctuations.
CNBC reported that within the first 60 minutes of trading, IBIT immediately traded 73,000 options contracts. The market’s enthusiasm for this financial product placed IBIT among the top 20 most active non-index options.
On the first trading day, options contracts on IBIT recorded total exposure of nearly $2 billion. This figure is believed to have contributed to pushing Bitcoin’s price to a new all-time high of nearly $94,000.
Source: CoinMarketCap
ETF analyst from Bloomberg, James Seyffart, reported on November 20 that total exposure from IBIT’s first day of trading reached nearly $1.9 billion through 354,000 contracts.
“These options almost certainly played a role in Bitcoin’s price surge to a new all-time high today,” he wrote on X.
UPDATE: Final tally of $IBIT‘s 1st day of options is just shy of $1.9 billion in notional exposure traded via 354k contracts. 289k were Calls & 65k were Puts. That’s a ratio of 4.4:1. These options were almost certainly part of the move to the new #Bitcoin all time highs today pic.twitter.com/IN3s9hajJ2
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) November 19, 2024
Senior ETF analyst from Bloomberg, Eric Balchunas, noted that the $1.9 billion achieved by IBIT was remarkable for its first day.
He compared it to the launch of the first ETF offering exposure to Bitcoin in the US, ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO), which only reached $363 million on its first day.
$1.9b is unheard of for Day One. For context, $BITO did $363m and that’s been around for four years. And also this is with 25,000 contract position limits. That said, $1.9b isn’t quite big dog level yet tho, eg $GLD did $5b today, but give it a few more days/weeks. https://t.co/nAr2rracjb
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) November 19, 2024
Balchunas added that this figure looks very bullish, considering contracts expiring within a month. Essentially, investors believe Bitcoin prices will rise next month.
The launch of Bitcoin options ETFs is expected to further drive innovation in the crypto industry. Other financial firms are predicted to follow IBIT’s lead, including Grayscale.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs, known to have begun trading last January, are considered one of the most successful ETF launches in history.