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Bitcoin It reached a new all-time high near $81,000 and futures premiums rose, a clear sign that investors believe the record set by the world's largest cryptocurrency is poised for further gains on the back of a US election that has seen pro-crypto inflation. Candidates win office.
Open interest in Bitcoin price has surged past $90,000 to over $2.8 billion on the popular Deribit derivatives exchange, one of the few domestic cryptocurrency platforms that offers futures trading. Deribit includes most of the offshore options market.
“The options market's bias is very much toward sustained momentum. Calls are trading at a premium to puts, and open interest in out-of-the-money calls has increased,” Vitel Lund, head of research at K33 Research, told CNBC.
A call option gives the buyer the right to buy shares of the underlying asset at a certain price for a specified period of time. Buying a call option is a bet that the price of an asset will rise. Buying a put option is a bet that the price of an asset will fall.
The CME Derivatives Exchange offers Bitcoin futures and is a popular way for institutions in the United States to bet on the future price of Bitcoin. CME installments on Friday for… ether The average price of Bitcoin was 14.5% and 14%, respectively. Before the election, Felde says those premiums were at 7%, and most spent the past half year hovering just below 10%.
“The recent rise is a tangible divergence to the upside that underscores the recent upward flows,” he added, noting that yields have more or less stabilized well into the double digits now that the election has become clear.
“Alongside the growth in leverage, we saw the first meaningful example of yield growth in offshore derivatives, demonstrating that the move is being led by risk-takers intent on taking further upside,” Felde said.
The early rounds of Bitcoin's rally coincided with a significant growth in open interest in perpetual swaps, or contracts that allow buyers to speculate on where they think prices are headed without a specific expiration date.
But liquidity in cryptocurrency markets on weekends is usually lower than during weekdays, as neither CME futures nor ETFs are open for trading, so moves tend to overreact and fall dramatically once they open. These markets again, according to Felde.
President-elect Donald Trump promised during his election campaign to turn the United States into the “cryptocurrency capital of the planet.” His numerous pledges to the cryptocurrency community included launching a national cryptocurrency stockpile with more than $16 billion in Bitcoin raised by the US government through asset seizures, as well as lowering interest rates. Easing monetary policy usually corresponds with rising cryptocurrency prices because it makes it cheaper to borrow money.
The Federal Reserve, which directs the country's monetary policy, sets the benchmark interest rate. It also, by design, operates independently of the White House. On Thursday, the Federal Reserve agreed to cut interest rates for the second time in a row.
Against the backdrop of the election results and the Federal Reserve's unanimous vote to cut the benchmark interest rate again, the cryptocurrency market rose broadly over the weekend. ether Overshadowed by Bitcoin's 30% rise in the past seven days, and Solana The market capitalization surpassed $100 billion on Sunday.
The total market cap of all spot Bitcoin ETFs now stands at more than $80 billion, and in the last three trading days alone, the spot funds have added a combined $2.3 billion.
In the fintech space, cryptocurrency-related companies were among the best performers, after candidates funded by the cryptocurrency industry won races up and down the ballot.
Coinbase shares jumped 48% during the week, their strongest performance since January 2023. Coinbase was one of the biggest corporate donors in the election cycle, giving more than $75 million to Fairshake and its political action committees, including a new $25 pledge. $1 million to support a pro-crypto super PAC in the 2026 midterm elections.
Trump has vowed to fire SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, which bodes well for companies like Coinbase that are fighting the regulator in court over alleged securities crimes.
“Tuesday night was definitely a big night for crypto and crypto voters,” Paul Grewal, chief legal officer at Coinbase, said in an interview. “We will have the most pro-crypto Congress ever, and Coinbase has played some role in all of it.”
Shares of Robinhood, which allows users to buy and sell a number of cryptocurrencies, rose 27% during the week. The online brokerage received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission in May, a step that often precedes formal charges.
The general manager of Robinhood's cryptocurrency unit told CNBC that the goal at Robinhood is to be able to work within management.
“If you think about cryptocurrencies, they are very fast-paced,” said Johan Kerbrat, vice president and general manager of Robinhood Crypto. “They are complex, and they were made by engineers, for engineers.” “We want to help policymakers understand this and help them provide appropriate protections for consumers.”
