The latest moves in crypto markets, in context

Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here.

Good morning, and welcome to First Mover – featuring a new look. Here’s what’s happening this morning:

And check out the CoinDesk TV show “First Mover,” hosted by Christine Lee, Emily Parker and Lawrence Lewitinn at 9:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern time.

Today’s newsletter was edited by Omkar Godbole and produced by Bradley Keoun. Let us know what you think by replying to this email.

Market Moves

Nervousness seems to have seeped into the bitcoin market with the cryptocurrency's break of a bullish trendline amid renewed macro fears.

Put-call skews, which measure the difference between implied volatility premiums of calls and put options, are again trending higher, indicating a renewed bias for puts or options offering downside protection.

Notably, the six-month skew has increased from -1% to 5% in one week. The one-week, one- and three-month metrics have seen similar moves, per data provided by Skew.

Bitcoin's put-call skews. (Source: Skew.)

"In the current market, the most practical way to hedge with puts is still primarily done in BTC and ETH compared to any other altcoins," CJ Fong, head of Asia sales at crypto liquidity provider GSR, said. "We see BTC skew trending relatively higher than ETH skew with bears taking increasingly polar positions."

"With regards to altcoin [alternative cryptocurrencies] bearish-ness, we are seeing these expressed in terms of near-strike call selling rather than buying of puts," Fong added.

Noelle Acheson, head of market insights at Genesis Global said, "We are seeing growing interest in covered strategies. Volatilities have been continuing their trend down, making some expiries notably cheap."

Implied volatility looks cheap

The one-week implied volatility, which gauges expected price turbulence over the next seven days, fell under 50% annualized over the weekend, the lowest since November 2020. The one-, three- and six-month gauges also continued to decline.

All gauges are now cheaper compared to their lifetime average. Further, the three-month implied volatility is cheaper than the three-month realized volatility. In other words, volatility expectations are underpriced, which, as per options theory, is the best time to take long straddles/strangles, which involve buying both call and put options.

"At this stage, though, buying some BTC puts can be profitable to some extent. Implied volatility remains near all-time lows and hasn't seen a significant uptick in response to recent price declines," Griffin Ardern, volatility trader at crypto asset management firm Blofin, said. "This means that the time value (aka "theta") we need to pay will not be too much. Still, once there is any turbulence, whether from a volatility perspective or price direction perspective, the probability of having some profit significantly increases."

BTC chart leans bearish

Bitcoin dipped to $41,000 soon before press time, having invalidated the bullish trendline from February lows over the weekend. The 14-day relative strength index has entered the bearish territory under 50, supporting a continued price decline.

The immediate support is around $40,000. "On the support side, buying activity has been concentrated around the $40,000 level, where 820,000 BTC was previously acquired, making this the price to watch out for," blockchain analytics firm IntoTheBlock's research head Lucas Outumuro said in a newsletter published Friday.

Bitcoin's daily chart with relative strength index. (Source: TradingView.)

Investors, you deserve a Spot Bitcoin ETF

Since its inception in 2013, Grayscale has never stopped working towards converting Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (symbol: GBTC) to a Bitcoin ETF. If you support the conversion, write to the SEC by clicking here.

Your submission matters because:

We can level the playing field. To date, the SEC has only permitted Bitcoin Futures ETFs, while rejecting “physically-backed” or Spot Bitcoin ETFs.

The choice should be yours. If you’ve been waiting for the familiarity and protections of a Bitcoin ETF, we believe you should not be forced into a Futures-based product simply because it’s the only one that exists.

You can help take GBTC to the next level, conversion to an ETF. It’s already the world’s largest Bitcoin fund and regularly reports to the SEC on a voluntary basis as an SEC-reporting company.

Learn more here.

This information should not be relied upon as investment advice or a recommendation regarding any security. Visit here for important disclosures.

Crypto Prices

Bitcoin (BTC)

See the latest price here

Ether (ETH)

See the latest price here

The following are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 digital assets over the past 24 hours:

Biggest Gainers:

Biggest Losers:

Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive, and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk 20 is a ranking of the largest digital assets by volume on trusted exchanges.

Hex Trust is a fully licensed digital asset custodian for financial institutions and organizations. Our bank-grade platform Hex Safe™ integrates top emerging blockchains, token standards, and licensed custody services for NFTs and metaverse assets.

Unlock the full potential of your digital assets.

Get started

Latest Headlines

Wen Fed Easing?

The return to risk aversion has revived the discussion about the so-called Fed put - at what point will the world's most powerful central bank step in to save markets.

One narrative says that sustained positive real yields will force the Fed to throw in the towel, while another says the reversal of tightening will happen next year after the economy falls into recession.

However, Quill Intelligence's Danielle DiMartino Booth foresees the Fed springing into action once there are signs of stress in the corporate credit market, according to Arthur Hayes, co-founder and former CEO of crypto spot and derivatives exchange BitMEX.

"I had a phone conversation with her last week, and asked where the Fed put is. She responded that Jay Powell is a credit guy, and is deeply concerned about financial contagion in the corporate bond markets," Hayes wrote in a blog post called "The Q-Trap."

"She reminded me that the Fed effectively nationalized the U.S. corporate credit markets by backstopping BBB-rated companies during the COVID March 2020 crash. Absent this support; the corporate borrowing markets would have a supporting role in the film Frozen," Hayes said.

While the spread between the BBB-rate U.S. corporate 10-year and two-year bond yields has narrowed, it is still at least 100 basis points short of inversion, a sign of stress. Therefore, the Fed appears to have plenty to room to tighten the policy with rapid fire rate hikes and balance sheet run-off.

"As this chart clearly shows, at +1%, the spread has a bit farther to fall before it is inverted. When this curve inverts– and I believe it will, due to softening global demand driven by commodity price inflation from the Russian / Ukraine conflict– how far down the hole will the NDX have fallen," Hayes noted.

"Down 30%? … Down 50%? … your guess is as good as mine. But let’s be clear– the Fed isn’t planning to grow its balance sheet again any time soon, meaning equities ain’t going any higher," Hayes added.

Spread between yields on U.S. BBB rated 10-year and two-year corporate bonds. (Source: Bloomberg, Arthur Hayes.)

Consensus 2022, the must-attend crypto and blockchain experience of the year, is heading to Austin, Texas, from June 9-12. This is the only festival showcasing and celebrating all sides of the blockchain and crypto ecosystems and their wide-reaching effect on commerce, culture and communities. Register now for the lowest price.

Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments.

First Mover

A newsletter from CoinDesk

Were you forwarded this newsletter? Sign up here.

Copyright © 2022 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.

250 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10003, USA

See all of CoinDesk’s newsletters | Opt out