The imminent transition of the Ethereum blockchain to a new, greener system has sparked a frenzy of trading among hedge funds. The scramble to place bets ahead of one of the biggest events in cryptocurrency’s short history.
Traders have been buying ethereum options, betting on price swings or protecting themselves from sudden sharp swings ahead of a merger.
Some traders are betting that switching to the new system will reduce the network’s energy consumption by 99 percent, opening up ethereum to mainstream investors.
The total number of open options contracts on the exchange Deribit has grown from 1.2 million at the beginning of the year to more than 4.6 million yesterday. Of these contracts, about 80% are calls and the rest are puts.
Some even believe that the merger could help Ethereum replace Bitcoin as the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
