That's the message from a market maker as bitcoin (BTC) continues to bore traders with prices caught in crosswinds of continued ETF inflows and selling by long-term holders.
Its solidity above $100,000 has sparked a meltdown in volatility metrics, including Deribit's DVOL, which measures the 30-day implied or expected BTC price turbulence. The index fell below an annualized 40%, the lowest in nearly two years.
"Compared to equities, Tesla and Coinbase vols are ~50% richer, highlighting just how quiet crypto has become," Jimmy Yang, a co-founder of institutional liquidity provider Orbit Markets, told CoinDesk. "But calm rarely lasts. Historically, vol tends to bounce from here. With direction unclear — breakout or breakdown — going long volatility via vol swaps offers a clean way to position for a return of movement."
A volatility swap is a forward contract that allows investors to trade the future realized volatility of an underlying asset. Another way to bet on price turbulence is through volatility futures, and some traders are already doing so.
Perpetuals linked to Volmex Finance's bitcoin and ether (ETH) implied volatility indices (BVIV and EVIV, respectively) debuted on the decentralized leverage trading platform gTrader last week. The cumulative trading volume in these perpetuals is fast approaching the $1 million mark.
In other news, President Donald Trump said he wants interest rates cut to 1% from the current range of 4.25%-4.0% and would "love" it if Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell were to resign. The Fed, however, is unlikely to cut rates unless the labor market softens, according to Dario Perkins, managing director of global macro at TS Lombard. That data is due later this week.
National Bank of Kazakhstan Governor Timur Suleimenov reportedly said the country will establish a crypto reserve, which will be managed by a National Bank affiliate. Meanwhile, Bhutan detailed plans to develop crypto-backed tourism to attract high-value global travelers.
Leading Ethereum liquid staking platform, Lido, implemented a two-way governance structure, allowing holders of staked ether (stETH) to delay or block proposals made by holders of LDO, its native token. The stETH holders can do so by locking in their tokens in an escrow contract.
In traditional markets, Nasdaq E-mini futures rose 0.6% to new lifetime highs, suggesting a return of the "U.S. exceptionalism narrative." The dollar index, however, showed little signs of life. Stay alert!
