First Mover: Options Market Shows Call Bias as Bitcoin Prepares for New Price High

PLUS: Bitcoin Steady at Resistance; Support Around $57K-$58K

Everything you need to make sense of the crypto markets and beyond By the CoinDesk Markets Team Edited by Lawrence Lewitinn, Managing Editor, Global Capital Markets April 1, 2021 Sponsored by     Bitcoin (BTC) +1.5%  $58,623 Ether (ETH)  +7.1%   $1,928 (Price data as of April 1 @11:00 UTC) If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here.  Good morning. Here's what we're writing about: Market Moves by Omkar Godbole: Options Market Shows Call Bias as Bitcoin Prepares for New Price High Technician's Take by Damanick Dantes: Bitcoin Steady at Resistance; Support Around $57K-$58K NOTE: No First Mover tomorrow (Friday, April 2, 2021) in observance of Good Friday. Check out the CoinDesk TV show "First Mover," hosted by Christine Lee, Lawrence Lewitinn and Emily Parker, at 9 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. Today the show will feature guests: Taylor Rapp, LA Rams Safety Michael Venuto, Toroso Investments Co-Founder & CIO Carlos Domingo, Securitize Founder & CEO   Biggest Movers These are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 over the past 24 hours:   Gainers: EOS (EOS): +14.8% OMG Network (OMG): +11.7% Chainlink (LINK): +11.1%   Losers:  None of the assets in the CoinDesk 20 is down today.   The CoinDesk 20 filters from the larger universe of thousands of cryptocurrencies and digital assets to define a core group of 20. These assets constitute roughly 99% of the market by volume at eight of the largest and most trustworthy exchanges. Market Moves by Omkar Godbole Options Market Shows Call Bias as Bitcoin Prepares for New Price High   Bullishness looks to be building in the bitcoin (BTC) options listed on the dominant Deribit exchange, with the cryptocurrency trading just 4.6% short of a new record high. Options skew, which measures the difference between the call implied volatility and put implied volatility for all options, is creeping up, as tweeted by the options analytics platform Genesis Volatility. In plain English, that call (bullish) options are again drawing greater demand or premium than put (bearish) options in a sign of bullish bias. Implied volatility refers to investors' expectations for price turbulence over a specific period and positively impacts the option's price. Hence, an uptick in the call-put implied volatility spread is considered a sign of bullish positioning. Bitcoin call-put skews (Source: Genesis Volatility) Both short- and long-term skews are ticking higher. The call bias had weakened in the second half of March, with bitcoin witnessing a healthy bull market correction from the record high of $61,557 to $50,400. According to Swiss-based options analytics firm Laevitas, "fireworks will ensue" once the psychological resistance of $60,000 is breached. Traders are positioning for a solid rally in the short-term via deep out-of-the-money calls such as the one at $80,000. At press time, the total open interest in the $80,000 call option is more than 5,000 contracts – the highest among options listed on Deribit with an April 30 expiry. Some analysts say the daily chart flag breakout – a bullish chart pattern – has opened the doors for a rally to at least $70,000 in the next few weeks. The flag pattern, however, is disputed, as discussed Wednesday.   --Omkar Godbole   Read the original story here: Options Market Shows Call Bias as Bitcoin Prepares for New Price High A message from Nexo Your digital assets deserve a savings account in their BEST INTEREST. Leading crypto lender Nexo treats you, your crypto and your fiat to industry-best Crypto & Fiat services, featuring:    * Up to 12% interest on digital assets, paid out daily! * Yields available on BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH, XRP, XLM, EOS, TRX, LINK, BNB, PAXG, USDT, USDC, TUSD, PAX, DAI, HUSD, GBP and EUR. * No minimum or maximum limits on funds deposited, offering infinite opportunities to earn. * #ZeroFees on all transactions. * Military-grade wallet security and top-tier insurance on all custodial assets with SOC 2 Type 2 certified crypto custodian BitGo. Get started at nexo.io Technician's Take by Damanick Dantes Bitcoin Steady at Resistance; Support Around $57K-$58K   Bitcoin (BTC) continues to struggle near the $60,000 resistance level. The cryptocurrency traded in a tight range during Asia hours, with initial support around $57,000 and $58,000. Hourly BTC chart shows nearby support and resistance levels (TradingView/CoinDesk)   BTC's oversold bounce from $50,000 support remains intact on the hourly chart, which fully retraced the near 15% selloff last week. Buyers are taking profit around $60,000 as upside momentum slows. The relative strength index (RSI) on the hourly chart is back in neutral territory, which occurred during previous support levels this week. Buyers will need to defend initial support around $57,000 and $58,000 to sustain the intraday uptrend. --Damanick Dantes Original story found here: Bitcoin Steady at Resistance; Support Around $57K-$58K A message from FBG Capital FBG is a leading digital asset manager and investment firm focused on blockchain and cryptocurrency. Founded in 2017, FBG has supported hundreds of innovative global blockchain projects and is one of the largest liquidity providers on major Crypto exchanges in Asia/World. BOLO Be on the look out for these upcoming events: Thursday: 12:30 UTC (8:30 a.m. ET) Initial jobless claims for the week ending March 27. Market forecasts 675,000.   Friday: 12:30 UTC (8:30 a.m. ET) Nonfarm payrolls (March). Market forecasts 675,000. Unemployment rate (March). Market forecasts 6.0% Average hourly earnings (March). Market forecasts +0.1%   CoinDesk's Christine Kim and Will Foxley, along with Consensys' Ben Edgington, present a weekly podcast series on the live development of Ethereum 2.0 and its potential impact on the crypto markets.   In each episode, the team discusses major news events related to Eth 2.0 from addressing skepticism to the consequences of node slashing, and gives updates on the status of CoinDesk's own Eth 2.0 validator.   Listen to Mapping Out Eth 2.0 every Thursday on the CoinDesk Podcast Network. ICYMI In case you missed it, here's this past Friday's episode of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:   Goldman Sachs, Big Banks Closer to Offering Crypto; Emerging CBDCs Goldman Sachs is reportedly closer to offering bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to wealth management clients, and more emerging markets are closer to releasing CBDCs. "First Mover" guests today include two crypto leaders involved in historic digital currency projects: Denelle Dixon of the Stellar Development Foundation and Brian Popelka of Bitt. Plus, Michael Shaulov of Fireblocks on signing up big banks for its crypto custody services. Latest Headlines   Zora Gets In on NFT Funding Craze With $8M Raise, SEC Documents Show It's the latest NFT marketplace investors are betting on as the mainstream gateway to crypto. NFT Marketplace OpenSea to Add Ethereum Layer 2 Protocol for Gas-Free Trading The NFT site says it will use Immutable X to kill the trading fees that have shocked newcomers. Crypto Exchange Luno Hires CFO of Digital Banking Giant Monzo Alwyn Jones is the latest in a group of digital banking executives to join crypto firms. Japan to Adopt FATF Travel Rule for Crypto The FSA wants to implement the rule by April 2022. Filecoin Surges 42%, Replaces Litecoin as the 9th Largest Cryptocurrency Institutional demand propels filecoin ahead of litecoin.   A message from CoinDesk CoinDesk's Christine Kim and Consensys' Ben Edgington present a weekly podcast series on the live development of Ethereum 2.0 and its potential impact on the crypto markets. In each episode, the team discusses major news events related to Eth 2.0 from addressing skepticism to the consequences of node slashing. Listen to Mapping Out Eth 2.0 every Thursday on the CoinDesk Podcast Network. 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.  ATTENTION: Scammers have been sending fraudulent emails with links to sites disguised to look like coindesk.com. If you are in doubt about a link, type https://www.coindesk.com directly into your browser; do not copy and paste. 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