Bybit, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, released the latest weekly crypto derivatives report in collaboration with Block Scholes, recognizing crypto markets‘ subdued bullish sentiment in an almost anti-climatic turn of events after Trump’s inauguration.
The 2025 presidential inauguration triggered a wild weekend of speculation with Trump family meme coins TRUMP and MELANIA, tilting derivative markets toward a bullish shift. However, the anticipated BTC-related executive orders failed to materialize, causing implied volatility to drop although realized volatility rose. Perpetual and options markets maintained high funding rates and a persistent bullish tilt, reflecting the complex speculative environment as crypto’s sunny expectations met political uncertainty.
Key Insights:
SOL’s Spotlight Moment: Trump’s issuance of “husband and wife” coins sparked an all-time high in Solana perpetual swaps, driven by traders anticipating crypto-friendly policies. The TRUMP meme coin’s launch on Solana DEXs elevated the network’s fee generation, symbolically positioning it above Ethereum competitors.
Derivatives Market Resilience: Perpetual swap funding rates remained neutral-to-bullish despite minimal crypto-positive inauguration announcements, with open interest showing stable positions. Derivatives markets viewed the event as just one of many potential catalyst opportunities.
BTC Options Speculation: Earlier anticipation of a potential strategic BTC reserve triggered significant short-tenor options positioning, resulting in robust call buying and the strongest at-the-money term structure inversion since the November 2024 election. While front-end volatility pricing has moderated, the strong skew toward out-of-the-money calls persists.
Access the full report, including detailed analysis of volatility trends, funding rates, and options market dynamics.
