Bitcoin Drops as Investors Buy $22K and $20K Puts
Bitcoin is falling a day after the options market saw increased demand for out-of-the-money or lower strike put options at $22,000 and $20,000. The leading cryptocurrency was trading at a three-week low of $30,700 at press time, representing a 3.5% drop on the day. The decline has flipped the crucial 50-week simple moving average (SMA) support of $32,250 into resistance.
On Sunday, 500 contracts of the $22,000 put option expiring on Dec. 31 changed hands via the institution-focused over-the-counter (OTC) desk Paradigm. Similar volume crossed the tape for the $20,000 put expiring on Dec. 31.
Market makers are always on the opposite side of traders/investors and run a direction-neutral portfolio. That essentially means buyers of the $20,000 and $22,000 puts expiring on Dec. 31 were investors, most likely adding downside hedges against long positions in the spot/futures market. A put option gives the purchaser the right but not the obligation to buy the underlying asset at a predetermined price on or before a specific date. A put buyer is implicitly bearish on the underlying asset, in this case, bitcoin.
Top Cryptocurrencies with Price Predictions
| # | Crypto | Prediction | Accuracy | CVIX | Price | 24h | 7d | Market Cap | 7d price change | |
| 1 |  BTC |
Bitcoin predictions | 76.8% | 42 | $61 547.52 | 2.05% | -6.23% | $1 216 355 112 897 |  |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |  ETH |
Ethereum predictions | 75.6% | 44 | $2 377.14 | 1.41% | -10.43% | $286 144 526 536 |  |
|
| 3 |  USDT |
Tether predictions | 92.4% | 1 | $0.999827 | 0% | -0.03% | $119 621 314 425 |  |
|
| 4 |  BNB |
Binance Coin predictions | 72% | 51 | $552.57 | 2.29% | -9.08% | $80 637 236 454 |  |
|
| 5 |  SOL |
Solana predictions | 72% | 55 | $141.69 | 4.13% | -9.33% | $66 377 309 590 |  |
|
| 6 |  USDC |
USD Coin predictions | 92.8% | 1 | $1.000075 | 0.01% | 0.03% | $35 554 277 856 |  |
|
| 7 |  XRP |
XRP predictions | 78% | 39 | $0.523869 | 0.75% | -10.99% | $29 632 119 965 |  |
|
| 8 |  DOGE |
Dogecoin predictions | 77.2% | 39 | $0.108274 | 4.50% | -12.89% | $15 832 515 125 |  |
|
| 9 |  TRX |
TRON predictions | 94.8% | 1 | $0.157488 | 2.34% | 1.66% | $13 636 924 478 |  |
|
| 10 |  TON |
Toncoin predictions | 74.8% | 49 | $5.37 | 2.42% | -10.24% | $13 604 227 831 |  |
|
| 11 |  ADA |
Cardano predictions | 75.6% | 42 | $0.353883 | 4.62% | -12.53% | $12 370 494 795 |  |
|
| 12 |  AVAX |
Avalanche predictions | 65.2% | 68 | $25.80 | 6.17% | -14.05% | $10 482 710 259 |  |
|
| 13 |  SHIB |
SHIBA INU predictions | 58.4% | 94 | $0.000018 | 10.05% | -14.68% | $10 324 207 135 |  |
|
| 14 |  STETH |
Lido stETH predictions | 91.6% | 1 | $2 941.39 | -0.40% | -3.32% | $10 258 752 564 |  |
|
| 15 |  WTRX |
Wrapped TRON predictions | 96% | 1 | $0.116354 | -0.46% | 0.23% | $10 171 995 609 |  |
