The volatility of Bitcoin could increase as leading exchanges must liquidate their monthly options contracts in the next few days. The most significant loss that buyers could face is that the price remains at USD 58,000 upon settlement.

Bitcoin put options contracts continue to become increasingly expensive, which implies a bearish sentiment in the market. However, the volatility of Bitcoin could increase as leading exchanges must settle their monthly options contracts in the coming days.

The quarterly bias of put options measures the cost of put options concerning call options. Data analytics firm Skew said that it has turned positive and reached 3%.

That positive bias shows that put options generate higher prices or demands than call options or bullish bets. At the beginning of November, the quarterly indicator stood at -5%, which indicated an upward trend in the market.

Market Operators Could Be Adding Downside Protection against Large Positions

However, a positive bias does not necessarily mean that market operators are taking bets on a downward trend. On the contrary, they could be adding downside protection against significant positions in the spot or futures markets of Bitcoin.

That behavior of the price of Bitcoin indicates a general fear in the market, which would be justifiable. The value of the pioneering cryptocurrency dropped by 16% after reaching an all-time high of USD 68,990 on November 10^th.

The Liquidation of BTC Options Could Affect Investors

Data from the Skew platform reveal that exchanges will settle 51,900 Bitcoin options contracts worth USD 3 billion in the coming days. For example, crypto options exchange Deribit will liquidate around USD 2.5 billion worth of Bitcoin options.

Most of those options contracts are in a group of call options at prices well above the all-time high of Bitcoin. The most significant loss that buyers of Bitcoin options could face is that the value of the cryptocurrency remains at USD 58,000 upon liquidation.

The manipulation of the market, also known as Max Pain or maximum pain, functions as a magnet as it heads towards liquidation time. At that moment, option sellers, generally large institutions, buy or sell the underlying asset to keep prices at crucial levels. With that strategy, they seek to inflict maximum loss on market buyers.

The Price of Bitcoin Usually Increases After the Expiration of Options

There is no evidence that sellers use such strategies as Max Pain in the Bitcoin market, but Bitcoin has moved similarly on other occasions. It stood at a minimum before the expiration of the options. However, the price of Bitcoin usually begins a process of volatile increase after those behaviors.

For that reason, nobody rules out the prospects for highly volatile behavior in the Bitcoin market in the coming days. In addition, trading volumes are likely to be low due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Bitcoin is trading at around USD 54,364 and has accumulated a loss of 0.9% in the last 24 hours. Its trading volume is above USD 23.2 billion, and its market capitalization is about USD 1.02 trillion, according to CoinGecko.

By Alexander Salazar

According to Grayscale, the worlds that take part in the metaverse are now generating value in the real world. Total fundraising increased to at least $ 8.2 billion in cryptocurrencies thanks to Web 3.0.

Metaverses are an imminent reality. At least 50,000 or more people are inside it, interacting, playing games, and making money. But that number may increase, as Web 3.0 did is in its infancy.

According to a report made by the blockchain analytics firm Grayscale, the combination of innovations that are part of Web 3.0, based on personalization and increased interaction between Internet users, has attracted potential users from around the world who already are taking part in metaverses.

Metaverses, or metaverse, are interconnected and experimental 3D virtual worlds where users based anywhere can socialize in real-time to form a user-owned Internet economy, spanning the digital and physical worlds, as defined by the company.

Users of the metaverses and virtual worlds of Web 3.0 have seen exponential growth in recent years. The report of the American company highlights that today, there are about 50,000 users, ten times more people since the beginning of 2020.

Grayscale exposed that the virtual worlds of the metaverse are already generating value in the physical world. This value benefits developers, creators, and users, who manage native cryptocurrency economies of the network.

Grayscale claimed that virtual worlds framed by cryptocurrencies just created a multi-million dollar primary and secondary market for creators and owners of digital assets after erasing capital controls and opening its digital borders to free-market capitalism.

Metaverses in Early Stage

Grayscale stated that the fundraising grew to $ 8.2 billion in crypto thanks to Web 3.0 in the third quarter of this year. The non-fungible tokens (NFT) segment earned USD 1.8 billion, and blockchain-based games (such as Plant vs. Undead or Axie Infinity), meanwhile, attracted USD 1 billion in funding.

Grayscale highlighted that Capital investment in the sector started to accelerate at a good rate recently but compared to the $ 10 billion that companies like Facebook plan to invest and the amounts that could get thrown away from other companies and venture capitalists, metaverses are still living their infancy.

The firm highlights that metaverses make up a digital universe that goes beyond the network of today. They claim that the vision of the future state of the web has enough potential to transform our social interactions, businesses, and the Internet economy in general.

The metaverses continue to take shape. Cryptocurrency-based networks and virtual worlds are already open in Web 3.0 and now give a small glimpse of what the future holds.

A Virtual World in full Development

What Grayscale reveals makes total sense, considering that there is evidence for the increase of metaverses. Magazines, bands, art, games, and more are fitting into this new way of browsing and living the internet.

The century-old US magazine TIME will also venture into metaverses in parallel with Galaxy Digital. In addition, it would begin to hold ether (ETH), the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The volume of money that Bitcoin moves would surpass Mastercard and Visa in 5 years. Bitcoin processed at least $ 489 billion per quarter in 2021.

Blockdata, a company that brings blockchain advice to businesses and governments, highlighted that the Bitcoin network already manages more money than PayPal. And it estimates that its volume will surpass Mastercard and Visa in at least five years.

Although Blockdata advised that they are networks that do not work for the same, it explains that it decided to compare the volume of money that each one manages to measure the magnitude of Bitcoin.

The report that appeared on the subject clarified that the Bitcoin network processed around USD 489 billion per quarter in 2021. In this way, it surpassed PayPal, which made at least USD 302 billion.

However, Bitcoin should grow 260% more to catch up with Mastercard and 540% to overtake Visa. Although he maintains that these goals will get achieved soon, considering how much they grew in such a short time.

Each network processed at least USD 1.8 trillion and USD 3.2 trillion per quarter in 2021.

Bitcoin, unlike Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal, is not supported by a single company. It works through nodes of people and companies worldwide. For this reason, it is a decentralized blockchain.

Bitcoin Could Overtake Visa

Blockdata advised that three paths would lead Bitcoin to overtake Visa, the most relevant financial network on the market. This scenario would happen if the cryptocurrency price, the volume of money transferred in transactions, or the number of operations grows by at least 540%.

Considering the annual historical value of the cryptocurrency, the network could achieve this goal in 2060. It even warns that it will probably be earlier. If the price increases as much as it did in 2021, then the network will overtake Visa in 2026. Right now, one BTC is trading at $ 57,749.

Blockdata states that it is a matter of time before the volume of money that Bitcoin moves reach that of the Visa and Mastercard networks. Therefore, Blockdata believes that, at some point, a solution must act in the second layer of the blockchain so that it can solve more transactions than now.

Something Similar Predicts Analyst Gael Sánchez Smith

Gael Sánchez Smith explains that people invent conventions to measure things. He expresses that, just as humans invented degrees to measure temperature or years, minutes, and seconds for time, bitcoin is the new convention for measuring the value of things.

The economist believes that the world is going in that direction, and those who think about the value of bitcoin would get more prepared in the long term. He credits this to the fact that cryptocurrency in just 13 years of life is already an asset for around 2-3% of the world’s population.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Hoskinson highlighted that eToro’s decision responds to a lack of regulatory clarity around cryptocurrencies. The price of ADA has crumbled by almost 10% since the announcement.

Cardano founder and IOHK CEO Charles Hoskinson was quick to comment on the recent decision by the eToro trading platform to suspend ADA trading between US-resident users.

The popular platform eToro announced that it would stop offering trading support for cryptocurrencies like ADA from Cardano, and TRX, from Tron.

The policy would limit customers based in the US from opening new positions or receiving participation rewards for those cryptocurrencies as of December 26.

The platform cited some reasons for the decision. Among these reasons are business-related considerations in the evolving regulatory environment. It did not specify whether there were regulatory issues related to those tokens.

EToro caught the attention of many users and companies in the community, including Hoskinson, who took the opportunity to share his views and clarify doubts on the matter.

Hoskinson Responds Regarding eToro

During a YouTube broadcast, the mathematician noted that he is unaware that eToro has approached the Cardano Foundation to address this matter. In general, he was surprised by the decision and said that it responds to the systemic lack of clarity in cryptocurrency regulations globally.

On the other hand, the CEO also took advantage of the space to send a message of reassurance to the Cardano community, clarifying that eToro’s decision has nothing to do with Cardano and its legal issues.

Hoskinson said they did not receive regulatory events, subpoenas, anything from any regulatory agency, nor threat of a lawsuit, none of these things. That’s why Cardano is so surprised on the subject.

The CEO also added that the platform’s move has no significant impact on ADA’s liquidity. The move emerges amid a contrary trend in which a growing number of exchanges, centralized and decentralized, have started listing.

ADA Price Slides after the Announcement

The Cardano founder reiterated that IOHK, the technology development company behind the project, is not responsible for ADA’s listing or liquidity on exchanges.

Instead, the official said he expects more clarity from the Cardano Foundation on the matter. He expects more clarity about the work done with the exchanges and the agreements for the commercial listing.

Hoskinson also warned people not to fall into the misinformation and speculation circulating on the Internet. Finally, he ended up saying that the only way they can solve this situation as an industry is through more regulatory clarity.

The suspension of ADA on eToro had generated a toxic effect on the cryptocurrency price, making it plunge close to 9% following the news. According to data from CriptoMercados, the Cardano token is trading lower for USD 1.6. The coin fell almost 50% since the beginning of September when it reached an all-time high of USD 3.

By: Jenson Nuñez