Bitcoin put option demand seems to be waning as a U.S. inflation report approaches, which could make the case for faster liquidity withdrawal by the Federal Reserve, CoinDesk reported Wednesday (Jan. 12).
That could show investors not as inclined to seek protection against the crypto’s decline. The one week put-call skew, measuring the cost of puts, or bearish bets, relative to calls, has dropped from 17% to almost 0% since Monday (Jan. 10).
Patrick Chu, director of institutional sales and trading at over-the-counter tech platform Paradigm, said there had been a quiet start to the year, and that options open interest coming off strongly since December. However, volumes were picking up with lots of large short-dated options trading overnight.
Meanwhile, the Turkish lira has become volatile enough that residents of the country are instead turning to cryptocurrencies, The Wall Street Journal wrote Wednesday.
The lira has unraveled against the dollar as of the final quarter of 2021. Crypto trading using the lira jumped to around $1.8 billion a day on average across three exchanges, according to Chainalysis.
Turkish citizens have been using the stablecoin tether, which has a value pegged to the dollar. The lira is now the most-traded government issued currency against tether as of this fall.
In other news, El Salvador president Nayib Bukele has been losing money as he reportedly uses public funds to trade bitcoin with his phone, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
The process has been in secret. The country has bought at least 1,391 bitcoins, according to Bukele’s statements on Twitter.
Bukele’s apparent purchases would’ve cost the country around $71 million, if the average acquisition price was at $51,056 per token, if the timing of his tweets are anything to go by.
Finally, the Northwest Arkansas Council has announced Wednesday (Jan. 12) that it is offering $10,000 in bitcoin for tech professionals and other entrepreneurs who want to move there.
The initiative will combine the need for talent within the region’s tech sector — particularly blockchain tech.
“Northwest Arkansas is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, and we’re now seeing more explosive growth in our tech sector,” said Nelson Peacock, president and CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council. “This expanded incentive offer — Bitcoin and a Bike — not only embraces the growing trend toward the use of cryptocurrency as a payment option by employers, but also helps increase our pipeline of talent to benefit tech employers, startups, cities, local businesses and the region overall.”