options

With the easing of the situation in the Middle East, weakening oil prices, and strong corporate earnings, the U.S. stock market continues to strengthen. The S&P 500 index rose 5.8% in the first four trading days before August 4, and the options market simultaneously released the strongest bullish signals in recent years.Data shows that the average daily ratio of bullish to bearish options for the S&P 500 index has risen to 0.9, the highest level in at least four years; the skew indicator for short-term bullish options has also reached a two-year high, indicating that investors are paying higher premiums betting on a rapid market rise.Analysts believe that the current "fear of missing out" sentiment is heating up, with some institutional investors more worried about missing out on the upward trend rather than the risk of a downturn. However, there are also views that the extreme optimism in the options market may amplify short-term volatility, and caution is needed regarding the risk misjudgment driven by technical factors.

Glassnode released a market outlook stating that the sentiment in the Bitcoin options market is improving, with the short-term downside skew significantly retreating. The 1-week 25 Delta Skew has dropped to about 7%, indicating that recent panic has eased. However, the longer-term skew remains around 10%--12%, and the demand for downside protection still exists.Currently, the open interest for BTC call options is about $15 billion, higher than the approximately $10 billion for put options; recent funds are mainly concentrated in the $61,000 to $67,000 range, with a noticeable buying of $65,000 call options. Glassnode believes that the market is shifting towards more aggressive positions but has not yet abandoned risk hedging.

Bitcoin's recent volatility has nearly disappeared, but market risks have not been alleviated. Data shows that there has been no outflow of funds from the spot Bitcoin ETF, with a cumulative net inflow of approximately $754 million. However, the price of Bitcoin remains around $64,700, while the options market is focused on downside protection near $62,000 and $63,000.Market signals are showing divergence: on one hand, demand for spot ETFs is rebounding; on the other hand, derivatives traders are positioning themselves for a potential pullback, especially on the eve of the release of the latest U.S. employment data. However, from the overall position structure, the market still leans bullish. Bitcoin call options account for about 60.7% of total open contracts, indicating that investors' long-term expectations remain positive, although recent trading has been more concentrated on short-term risk hedging. Meanwhile, the cost of volatility protection is at a low level. The DVOL index from Deribit, which reflects the expected volatility of Bitcoin over the next 30 days, is currently around 35, a significant drop from the high of 90 earlier this year, indicating that the market believes the likelihood of significant volatility in the short term is limited.However, U.S. macro data could disrupt this balance. The market expects that non-farm payrolls in the U.S. will increase by about 97,500 in July, up from 57,000 in June, with the unemployment rate expected to remain at 4.2%. If the employment data is stronger than expected, it could push U.S. Treasury yields higher and strengthen expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate hikes; if the data is weak, it could lower yields but also exacerbate concerns about slowing economic growth. Currently, the Bitcoin market shows a pattern of "ETF funds supporting spot, options market guarding against declines," and potential risks in a low-volatility environment still need to be monitored. In a market with low participation and insufficient liquidity, even small changes in supply or demand could lead to significant price fluctuations.

Duan Yongping responded on Xueqiu today regarding the reduction of his position in Pop Mart, stating, "It's just that the put expired, and part was called away by the call." (This means that the put option expired, and a portion of the stock was called away by the call option.)ChainCatcher previously reported that earlier today, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange disclosed that the long position ratio of H&H International Investment, managed by Duan Yongping, in Pop Mart International Group Limited decreased from 7.65% to 5.55% as of July 30, 2026.According to a detailed interpretation of the announcement, this reduction was caused by the exercise of sold calls (call options). Duan Yongping holds the underlying stock of Pop Mart through H&H International Investment while selling call options to earn premiums. After part of the calls expired and were exercised on July 30, Duan Yongping had to deliver stocks at the agreed price, resulting in a decrease in physical holdings, and the disclosed long position ratio dropped from 7.65% to 5.55%.This time, Duan Yongping had part of the calls expire and be exercised, delivering some stocks at an average settlement price of approximately HKD 162.50, resulting in a net decrease of about 8.9328 million shares in physical holdings. Additionally, other option positions expiring or converting contributed to the overall decrease in the disclosed total long position ratio.Duan Yongping is accustomed to using sold options to enhance returns or build positions, and he has performed similar operations on stocks like Apple. On July 23, Duan Yongping had just responded to investors on Xueqiu, stating, "I just started buying Pop Mart, and I probably won't sell for the next 10 years." This decrease in ratio is mainly due to passive reduction caused by option settlements, rather than actively selling in the market. The actual decrease in physical holdings is not as exaggerated as the disclosed ratio suggests, as the disclosed long ratio also includes the impact of related derivative positions.

Earlier today, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange disclosed that the long position ratio of H&H International Investment, managed by Duan Yongping, in Pop Mart International Group Limited decreased from 7.65% to 5.55% as of July 30, 2026.According to the detailed interpretation of the announcement, this reduction was caused by the exercise of sold call options. Duan Yongping holds the underlying shares of Pop Mart through H&H International Investment while selling call options to earn premiums. After some calls expired and were exercised on July 30, Duan Yongping had to deliver shares at the agreed price, resulting in a decrease in physical holdings, and the disclosed long position ratio fell from 7.65% to 5.55%.This time, Duan Yongping had some calls expire and be exercised, delivering part of the shares at an average settlement price of approximately HKD 162.50, resulting in a net decrease of about 8.9328 million shares in physical holdings. Additionally, the expiration or conversion of other option positions contributed to the overall decline in the disclosed total long position ratio.Duan Yongping is accustomed to using sold options to enhance returns or build positions, and he has previously engaged in similar operations with stocks like Apple. On July 23, Duan Yongping had just responded to investors on Xueqiu, stating, "Pop Mart has just started buying, and it is highly likely that I won't sell within the next 10 years." The decrease in ratio this time is mainly due to passive reduction caused by option settlements, rather than actively selling in the market. The actual decrease in physical holdings is also not as exaggerated as the disclosed ratio suggests, as the disclosed long position ratio also includes the impact of related derivative positions.

According to official data, the trading volume of Gate options maintained growth last week, with an overall trading volume increasing by 14.55% month-on-month. Among them, retail trading volume increased by 6.34% month-on-month, new user trading volume increased by 15.41% month-on-month, and the number of cumulative trading users increased by 2.80% month-on-month. In addition, Gate launched a simplified options monthly challenge event from July 31 at 16:00 to August 30 at 16:00 (UTC+8). New users who complete their first order can enjoy subsidies, and participating in weekly tasks has a chance to enjoy a prize pool of 50,000 USDT.

On-chain analyst Ai Yi posted on the X platform, stating that a trader from @GreeksLive has cumulatively sold $173 million worth of BTC call options, believing that BTC will not rise more than 9.5% within 52 days.If BTC does not exceed $70,000 by expiration, the trader will receive $3.03 million in premiums.

According to the official announcement, Bitget has launched a direct connection API for US stocks, providing developers, quantitative teams, and institutional users with complete capabilities for programmatic access to the US stock, ETF, and options markets.The direct connection API for US stocks covers the entire chain of market data, order execution, and asset management, supporting access to US stocks, ETFs, and options under the same interface system. In terms of functionality, it supports market data such as basic information, real-time quotes, order book depth, and K-line, as well as transaction lifecycle management including order creation, cancellation, and execution queries.

According to The Block, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has postponed its review of the cash-settled Bitcoin index options proposal submitted by Nasdaq PHLX after approving the CME Group's request for a rehearing.

According to CoinDesk, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has suspended its decision to approve the Nasdaq cash-settled Bitcoin index options (QBTC) and will re-examine it in response to a legal challenge raised by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). The SEC has frozen the approval until August 24, seeking feedback from all parties. QBTC will remain suspended until the commission completes its review.The SEC conditionally approved the product for listing in May this year, but it requires an exemption from the CFTC. The CME raised objections in June, arguing that Bitcoin is a commodity and its options should fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the CFTC, not the SEC. If the CME's claim is established, Nasdaq would need to register as a futures platform regulated by the CFTC or redesign the contracts.

According to CoinDesk, Kraken will launch cryptocurrency options products in Europe and provide regulated Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) options services to institutional clients using its MiFID license.

According to the official announcement, in order to enhance user trading flexibility, Bitget US stock options now support pre-market trading, allowing users to adjust positions and manage risks earlier after earnings reports or unexpected events.The first batch supports 45 underlying assets, covering popular US stocks and ETFs such as SPY, QQQ, NVDA, and AAPL. The pre-market trading hours for options are the same as those for stocks, from Monday to Friday, Eastern Time 4 AM - 9:30 AM. For more details, please refer to the Bitget official platform.

According to Jinshi reports, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that for users who wish to heavily utilize the new AI products, Apple will provide an "upgrade option."

According to Jinshi reports, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that the company is evaluating all options regarding memory supply to find alternative component suppliers.

According to Deribit data, a nominal value of 10.3 billion dollars in cryptocurrency options will expire tomorrow.Among them: BTC options have a nominal value of 9.5 billion dollars, with a put/call ratio of 0.28 and a maximum pain point of 64,000 dollars; ETH options have a nominal value of 819 million dollars, with a put/call ratio of 0.59 and a maximum pain point of 1,800 dollars.

Binance will launch commodity options on July 29, 2026, at 18:00. Users can trade gold (XAU USDT) and silver (XAG USDT) options using USDT.During the event, all commodity options trades will enjoy zero Maker fees and lower Taker fees, with the specific fee rates being: Maker 0%, Taker 0.02%.

Binance will launch gold and silver European options through the Nest Exchange regulated by ADGM, settled in USDT. Before the product launch, there has been strong demand for Binance's metal perpetual futures.The new contracts are based on a benchmark composed of multiple third-party price sources. Retail investors can buy call and put options but cannot sell options, with their downside risk limited to the premiums paid. Binance stated that metal options are part of its plan to provide compliant, crypto-native traditional asset exposure. Binance plans to expand its options product line and may allow retail investors to sell options with limitations under stricter regulations.

According to BIT analysis, as the demand for call options accelerates, the implied volatility of Bitcoin and Ethereum has both rebounded, indicating that the quiet trading environment of summer may be nearing its end. Recently, there have been several large transactions of call options in the market.Meanwhile, after Bitcoin's implied volatility fell from 44% to 31%, it has now rebounded to 36%, further reflecting that market bullish sentiment is warming up. Although August and September are typically seasonally weak months, the rebound in call option demand and implied volatility is still expected to provide some support for Bitcoin prices. At the beginning of summer, BIT tended to short volatility, anticipating that the market would enter a consolidation phase. However, as option positions and overall market sentiment have both become more positive, BIT adjusted this judgment last week.

According to the official announcement, Kraken Pro has launched European-style cash-settled options contracts for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) for eligible professional and institutional clients. The new contracts feature a linear structure and are settled in USD, with the first batch supporting weekly, monthly, quarterly, and semi-annual expiration dates, traded through a request-for-quote (RFQ) mechanism.The platform defaults to combined margin, with spot, futures, and options sharing a unified wallet, supporting over 30 currencies as collateral. Kraken stated that it plans to introduce a public order book in the future, expand asset coverage, and expects to open to the European market in the second half of 2026.