This week Ether (ETH) price came within 2% of its best high and on December. two, the altcoin reached its highest cost in Bitcoin (BTC) terms since May 2022. Ether hitting 0.0835 in its BTC pair represents a 229% gain for 2022, but Ether bulls might come out empty-handed from Dec. iii's $680 million options death.

ETH/BTC price at FTX. Source: TradingView

Notice the ascending channel formation initiated in mid-Oct, which probable reflects the network's $177 billion total value locked in smart contracts (TVL). Moreover, Ether's ETH two.0 beacon concatenation residuum reached an eight.45 meg high, which is a 4.five% increase in November.

Final week, four Ethereum blockchain-based metaverse projects generated more than $100 meg worth of virtual country in nonfungible token (NFT) sales last week, according to reporting by Cointelegraph.

However, Ether investors might be concerned well-nigh the U.s.a. Lower House coming together scheduled for Dec. viii where the committee will focus on "Digital Assets and the Future of Finance." Stablecoin issuers and commutation CEOs have been invited, so there'south some potential heat coming from the threat of new regulation.

Regardless of the rationale behind ETH'south electric current vi% price drib, bulls missed the opportunity to secure an $fourscore profit on th Dec. 3 weekly options expiry.

Ether options amass open up involvement for Dec. iii. Source: Coinglass.com

A broader view using the call-to-put ratio shows a xix% advantage to bears every bit the $375 million put (sell) instruments take a larger open interest versus the $305 1000000 call (buy) options. The 0.81 indicator is deceptive considering the 49% bull run since September caused most of the surly bets to become worthless.

For instance, if Ether'south price remains to a higher place $4,400 at 8:00 am UTC on Dec. three, only $68 one thousand thousand worth of those put (sell) options volition exist available. Therefore, there is no value in the right to sell Ether at $4,400 if information technology is trading above that toll.

Bulls are unfazed subsequently today's 4% price drib

Below are the 3 most likely scenarios based on the current cost action. The number of selection contracts available on Dec. 3 for bulls (call) and conduct (put) instruments vary depending on the expiry ETH price. The imbalance favoring each side constitutes the theoretical profit:

  • Betwixt $4,300 and $four,500: eleven,300 calls vs. 15,400 puts. The net outcome is counterbalanced.
  • Betwixt $four,500 and $4,700: 21,700 calls vs. seven,300 puts. The net effect is $65 million favoring the call (bull) instruments.
  • Above $4,700: 26,000 calls vs. 5,000 puts. The net result is $100 1000000 favoring the call (bull) instruments.

This crude estimate considers telephone call options existence used in bullish bets and put options exclusively in neutral-to-bearish trades. Still, this oversimplification disregards more complex investment strategies.

For case, a trader could take sold a phone call selection, effectively gaining a negative exposure to Ether above a specific cost. Merely, unfortunately, there'southward no easy manner to judge this effect.

Bulls demand $4,700 to secure a decent-sized profit

Ether bulls need a iv.7% move from $4,500 to $4,700 to score a $100 million profit. On the other hand, bears simply need to go along Ether toll below $4,500 to avoid whatsoever losses.

As the ETH/BTC chart indicates, in that location'south some decoupling gaining traction, which might favor Ether holders. Despite the incentives for pushing Ether cost above $four,700 ahead of Dec. iii's expiry, this favorable outcome for bulls seems somewhat distant.

Could bears save this week's options expiry and avoid a $100 million loss? Peradventure.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves take chances. You should comport your own research when making a decision.