Bitcoin trading activity cools in October as options volume rises

Spot desks went quiet while derivatives traders kept busy, with Bitcoin options open interest holding between $37 billion and $38 billion Bitcoin spent October looking like a party where the music was loud but almost nobody was dancing. Crypto trading volumes fell over the month, while options volume and open interest both climbed. A rally without the crowd Bitcoin pushed past $85,000 early in October. The participation behind it was thin. Spot volumes averaged approximately $6.8 billion per day in early October. That daily average sat lower than roughly 90% of trading days since January 2024. Put simply, this was one of the quietest stretches for spot buying and selling in nearly two years. By late October, spot market demand indicators had turned negative. CryptoQuant reported a cumulative demand drop of 76,000 BTC over that period. Spot buyers were not just showing up less often. On net, they were stepping back. ETF inflows offered little relief. They stayed subdued through the month, which removed one of the steadier sources of spot demand from the picture. Meanwhile, in the options pit Derivatives traders told a very different story. Bitcoin options open interest moved between...