PowerTrade’s Altcoin Options Market Sees Surge in Activity Amid Market Volatility
As market volatility intensifies, traders are flocking to derivatives for both hedging and speculative purposes, with PowerTrade’s options market for altcoins seeing a notable uptick in activity this week.
XRP options volume has surged past $5 million, according to data from PowerTrade, with much of the action focused on short-term expirations. The trades are split between put options, with strike prices between $1.80 and $1.98, and call options, ranging from $1.80 to $1.93.
“This activity suggests traders are bracing for significant price movement in the short term, possibly due to regulatory news or a breakout scenario,” said Bernd Sischka, Head of Institutional Sales at PowerTrade, in an interview with CoinDesk.
The balance between calls and puts reflects the current volatility in the market, with XRP hitting a five-month low of $1.61 earlier in the week before recovering to $2, as per CoinDesk data. Put options are typically used to profit from or hedge against a price drop, while call options reflect a bullish outlook.
In addition to XRP, Solana (SOL) options are also seeing significant hedging activity. Traders have been buying puts at strikes between $104 and $121, as SOL briefly dipped to $95 on Monday amid global risk aversion sparked by tensions in the U.S.-China trade relationship. The cryptocurrency has since bounced back to $115.
Despite the broader market jitters, Dogecoin (DOGE) traders have shown renewed interest in the upside. The meme-inspired cryptocurrency, which fell to 13 cents early in the week, has since climbed to 15.7 cents. Dogecoin remains down over 65% from its December peak of 48 cents.
The most popular trades in Dogecoin have been short-term call options, with strikes at 14.5, 15.5, 17.5, and 18 cents, all set to expire on April 13. This surge in activity points to a speculative frenzy driven by short-dated, low-premium bets targeting quick price movements, likely spurred by social media or event-driven catalysts.
“The flow indicates a lot of momentum trading—short-dated options designed to capture rapid price surges,” Sischka explained. “Overall, short-term expiries and directional bets are putting altcoin options in the spotlight.”
However, while altcoin options are seeing an uptick in activity, they still remain a small fraction of the broader options market, particularly when compared to the larger bitcoin and ether options market, led by platforms like Deribit, where multi-million-dollar contracts are traded daily.
