Our weekly crypto derivatives analytics report delves into macro events, the current state of crypto and trading signals from spot trading volume, and futures, options and perpetual contracts.

December's end-of-year options expiration brought an unexpected drop as realized volatility fell to the lowest levels of the month. Perpetual swap open interest remained stable, indicating these markets weren't heavily used for hedging against expired options, likely contributing to the muted volatility. 

While most expired open interest in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) hasn't been reinvested, the balance of calls and puts remains consistent. Notably, ETH options are pricing in higher implied volatility as compared to BTC, particularly for shorter expirations, leading to a flat term structure for ETH, while BTC is offering cheaper options exposure.

In the perpetual markets, low volatility and minimal spot movements have led funding rates for nearly all tokens to mirror broader market sentiment throughout the holiday season. On the options side, BTC's term structure is noticeably lower and steeper than ETH's, with realized volatility now dipping below implied volatility levels, highlighting an intriguing shift in market dynamics.

Please check out the report’s highlights.

Open Interest Solid Amid Year-End Options Expiration

Although open interest for both BTC and ETH perpetual swaps hasn’t returned to early December 2024 highs, it remained robust throughout the significant end-of-year options expiration event. This suggests that these markets weren’t heavily utilized to 

 of the expiring options contracts, likely contributing to the lack of volatility observed during this period. Instead, trading volumes have dipped noticeably during the winter holiday season, coinciding with a collapse in realized volatility back to December 2024’s lowest levels.

BTC Option Curve Remains Steep During Call-Put Parity

The expiration of December's end-of-year options didn’t trigger the anticipated surge in volatility; instead, realized volatility has plummeted to the lower end of its recent range. The implied volatility term structure remains steep compared to both its recent behavior and ETH's, with longer-dated implied volatility around 57%, and 1-week at-the-money options trading about five points lower. Much of the expired open interest hasn’t yet been rolled into new positions, maintaining a neutral balance between puts and calls. Consequently, BTC's options market positioning is relatively neutral, lacking the leverage it had at the start of December 2024.

Huge ETH Option Expiring Doesn’t Cause Volatility

A late December spike in realized volatility didn’t carry into the new year, with ETH’s spot price currently exhibiting volatility below that of short-tenor implied volatility. Interestingly, the implied volatility term structure has undergone a steepening and re-flattening over the past week, contrasting with BTC’s slightly steeper profile. This suggests that ETH’s options market is anticipating higher short-term volatility in spot price movements. 

Despite the significant expiration of options open interest at the end of December 2024, which didn’t lead to a rollover into later expirations, call options continue to dominate the market and have increased at the start of 2025.

Advanced

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Bybit X Block Scholes Crypto Derivatives Analytics Report (Jan 2, 2025): BTC Options Continue to See Call-Put Parity, With Lower Short-Term Volatility Expected

Dive into FLock, a decentralized platform that revolutionizes the way AI models are developed, trained and deployed.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to transform countless industries, but its development often raises questions about privacy, control and inclusivity. 

 is a unique decentralized platform that democratizes AI training, fine-tuning and inferencing. With its blockchain-powered infrastructure, FLock ensures transparency, security and community-driven decision-making, paving the way for AI models that align with established societal values. 

In this article, we’ll explore how FLock decentralizes AI training, its key features and its potential impact on developers, communities and users.

 platform that revolutionizes the way AI models are developed, trained and deployed. By leveraging blockchain technology and a novel approach called 

, FLock addresses critical issues in AI development, such as centralized control, lack of transparency and privacy concerns.

At its core, FLock’s mission is to democratize AI by enabling communities to participate directly in the creation and refinement of AI models. Through federated learning, FLock trains AI models across multiple decentralized devices or servers. This method ensures that data remains local, eliminating the need for raw data exchange while still enabling robust model training. By decentralizing the training process, FLock not only protects individual privacy, but also fosters a more inclusive ecosystem in which diverse contributors can collaborate.

What sets FLock apart is its integration of 

. This ensures that all contributions — whether data, compute power or feedback — are transparently recorded and fairly rewarded. Blockchain tech’s immutable ledger enhances trust among participants and safeguards the process against manipulation. Additionally, the platform’s on-chain incentive mechanisms encourage participation from a wide range of contributors, ensuring that rewards are distributed equitably.

Ultimately, FLock empowers communities to develop bespoke AI models tailored to their specific needs. By decentralizing the process and prioritizing transparency and collaboration, FLock breaks the monopoly of large corporations, creating an AI ecosystem that aligns with public ethics and societal values.

, an Oxford alumnus with a robust background in AI and blockchain technology. Sun, who serves as FLock's CEO, has an impressive career trajectory, having worked as the Director of AI for the Royal Bank of Canada and as an AI Research Fellow at Imperial College London. His vision for FLock stems from a deep understanding of both the technical and ethical challenges of AI development.

The founding team also includes other Oxford alumni, boasting over a decade of combined experience in AI research and the cryptocurrency industry. This team brings a collective blend of academic excellence and practical expertise that positions FLock to lead the decentralized AI movement.

FLock has successfully raised $11 million in funding across two rounds, reflecting strong investor confidence in its vision. In May 2024, FLock secured a $6 million seed round co-led by Lightspeed Faction and Tagus Capital, with additional backing from Digital Currency Group (DCG), Volt Capital, OKX Ventures and Inception Capital.

Later, in December 2024, FLock announced a $3 million successful funding round led by DCG and joined by prominent names like Animoca Brands, Fenbushi Capital, GnosisVC and GSR. These investments are being channelled into enhancing the platform’s testnet and federated learning client, accelerating FLock’s mission of enabling secure, collaborative AI development.

With this funding and over 1,500 nodes contributing from platforms like Numerai and Kaggle, FLock is rapidly scaling its impact on decentralized AI training.

FLock AI revolutionizes AI development through its decentralized training framework. This approach allows participants to contribute to AI model training without ever sharing their personal data. Instead, models are trained locally across devices using federated learning, which ensures that data remains with its owners while still enhancing the accuracy of the model overall. 

FLock’s reward system is designed to incentivize active participation. Contributors who provide data, computational power and/or feedback are compensated with FLOCK tokens, ensuring a fair distribution of rewards. 

FLock empowers its community through a robust governance framework. Decisions regarding AI model development, deployment and ethical considerations are driven by the community, ensuring alignment with established societal values. Through blockchain-based voting mechanisms, contributors can influence the direction of AI projects, fostering transparency and public accountability. 

FLock’s modular architecture allows contributors to participate in specific aspects of AI model development. Whether providing raw data or computational power or even refining algorithms, the platform enables a collaborative and scalable development process. 

At the core of FLock’s philosophy is its commitment to privacy and security. By leveraging blockchain technology, the platform ensures that no single entity controls the AI development process. Data remains local and protected by cryptographic measures, while the immutability of blockchain guarantees transparency in every transaction and model update. 

 begins with a blockchain and an AI layer.

The blockchain layer underpins FLock’s incentivization and security mechanisms.

The AI layer facilitates model training, refinement and deployment, leveraging both centralized and federated approaches.

Let’s have a look at the supply and demand for the FLOCK token.

FLock adopts a 1:2 ratio model between team/investors (33.3%) and community (66.7%), prioritizing community-driven growth and ecosystem expansion. The majority of tokens are allocated to incentivize user participation and long-term ecosystem success.

FLock aims to improve the future of AI development by decentralizing the training process and ensuring transparency, privacy and inclusivity. By leveraging blockchain and federated learning, FLock empowers communities to contribute to AI creation without compromising on privacy. Its innovative reward system and community-driven governance foster a fair and collaborative ecosystem. 

With significant backing and a growing network of contributors, FLock is positioning itself as a leader in decentralized AI, offering a more ethical and secure alternative to traditional AI development models. As it continues to scale, FLock is set to transform the way AI models are built and deployed.

 — and earn a share of a 10 million FLOCK prize pool. For more details, visit 

Intermediate

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FLock AI: Decentralized AI Training

In this tutorial, we’ll explore how you can complete a series of tasks in Network3 for Bybit Web3 Airdrop Arcade.

Task 1: Register for a Network3 Account and Connect Your Bybit Wallet 

: Navigate to the campaign page and click on the 

task. Click on the task, and Galxe will ask to redirect you to the Network3 register page.

: Register for a Network3 account using your email address. You may indicate a 

Task 2: Download the Network3 App and Run a Node for One Hour

 and choose your operating system to download the Network3 app.

 or powerbutton, depending upon which operating system you’re using. For ease of reference, we’ve used macOS and iOS as examples below.

: Keep running the node until the timer reaches 

Beginner

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How to Complete Network3 Tasks for Bybit Web3 Airdrop Arcade

Bybit launched the Bybit Merch Creative Challenge for university students worldwide, offering a $50,000 USDT prize pool.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.22% on Thursday, its fifth straight decline, with investors eyeing Friday’s economic updates. Coindesk Indices, an index measuring broader cryptocurrency market performance was up by 2.03%, with Bitcoin and Ether rising by 2.79% and 2.70%, respectively in the past 24 hours.

Today's top performer is XRP, which surged 1.9% following a rise in price driven by increased open interest and positive market sentiment.

Ripple (XRP), launched in August 2012, is a blockchain technology company focused on improving international payments with its cryptocurrency, XRP. XRP price surged due to increased open interest, a major XRP transfer, and market sentiment linked to Trump's inauguration. Bullish momentum is supported by high short liquidations, with key resistance levels to watch for further price movement.

Check Out the Latest Prices, Charts, and Data of 

 for university students worldwide, offering a $50,000 USDT prize pool. Participants can design exclusive Bybit merchandise, with submissions open until Jan. 15, 2025. Winners will be announced on Feb. 1, 2025, across four prize categories.

Yesterday, Bitcoin Spot ETFs recorded a total inflow of $84.8M, driven by $107.9M from non-GBTC funds, partially offset by a $23.1M outflow from GBTC.

, offering an airdrop for participants who complete tasks like swapping and bridging using the Mango wallet. Points earned through tasks determine airdrop rewards. Join via the Mango wallet and follow steps on the testnet dashboard.

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Bybit Launches $50,000 Merch Design Challenge for University Students Worldwide

Bybit Learn

DeFi

Explainers

Altcoins

Odos (ODOS) is a multichain DEX aggregator offering optimal swaps, gas-inclusive rates, multi-token trades, and a loyalty program.

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 (DeFi) sector has long been a key driver of growth for another type of protocol in this area — DEX 

 platforms. These aggregators scout the DEX ecosystem accessible to them to find and execute token swaps at optimal rates for their users. As the DEX landscape has grown increasingly complex and varied, aggregator platforms have become more relevant to the needs of DeFi users.

In the niche of DEX aggregators, Odos provides a solution that stands out, thanks to its intent optimization algorithm, an extensive network of used blockchains and protocols, an efficient order routing mechanism and a sophisticated multi-token swap functionality. Although Odos isn't among the heavyweights of the DEX aggregator category just yet, it features the ability to access liquidity on 14 chains, boasting some of the broadest coverage of sources in this sphere.

 (ODOS) is a cross-chain DEX aggregator that offers users the best possible swap rates, thanks to its intent optimization order routing and its extensive network of accessible chains and protocols. 

As of late December 2024, Odos boasts the ability to access liquidity on over 900 protocols across 14 blockchain networks. The platform's coverage of liquidity sources is among the highest among DEX aggregators. Some of the leading chains accessible to Odos are 

 (AVAX), to name a few. The platform can also access DEX liquidity on smaller networks, such as 

 (SOR), its proprietary algorithm, to search for the optimal swap deals for user intents across a vast network of liquidity sources. The platform's intent optimization algorithm scans available 

 sources via complex, nonlinear paths in order to identify and deliver the best rates.

The Odos aggregator supports different kinds of orders, including simple swaps, multi-token swaps and 

. Its simple swaps offer users guaranteed rates, without sneaking in any hidden charges, such as gas fees or 

 rate losses. When a user requests a swap quote, the protocol finds the best possible deal, inclusive of gas fees and other charges. The effect of slippage is also taken into account so as to avoid surprises for the user. In short, the rate you see is what you pay, with no additional fees involved.

Odos also offers multi-token atomic swaps, sophisticated order types involving token swap combinations within one transaction. You can request swaps with multiple sell tokens at specified amounts and one or more buy tokens at preferred proportions. For instance, the image below is a screenshot from the Odos app showing a request to sell one Ether (ETH) token, one 

 (ZRO) token, via a single atomic transaction, to buy MakerDAO's 

 (USDT) stablecoin at a 50/50 proportion.

Odos also supports limit orders, so you can specify a target price for a token pair and have your order executed only if the desired rate is reached.

At the heart of the Odos platform is its intent optimization system, which scouts the network of 

 across the entire ecosystem accessible to the protocol to find the best ultimate path for your swaps. In total, Odos has access to over 55,000 DeFi assets. Nonlinear, complex search routes are employed to source the best swap deals.

The rates Odos finds usually include gas fees to avoid uncertainty for users, and the protocol optimizes gas costs through the integration of 

, a leading gas estimation solution. In some cases, Odos might suggest routes involving higher gas fees, but only if the gains from the lower rates that it finds outweigh the expenditure on gas. In short, the routes and rates Odos finds take into account all the fees involved.

Odos is a permissionless system, and doesn't hold user funds in its own custody. It simply finds optimal routes for swaps by leveraging its 

, which are regularly audited by third parties to ensure the security of the entire platform. As of December 2024, Odos has undergone three audits conducted by two reputable blockchain security companies — Zellic and Halborn.

Some order types on Odos (e.g., simple swaps) protect users from slippage rates by providing guaranteed quotes inclusive of all fees. For other swap operations, users can specify slippage rate limits, and their intended transactions will only be executed if the final rate stays within the acceptable slippage limit.

While not all components of the Odos platform are open-source, the critical order router system is, further ensuring the transparency of the protocol.

The project also offers an API for developers to easily integrate Odos's smart order routing into their own platforms. There’s a free API access mode, with a limit of 600 requests per five minutes. For any higher volume requirements or unlimited access, developers can get in touch with the Odos project for paid API plans.

Odos Zaps allow you to transform any crypto assets you own into 

 in one seamless transaction. Zaps offer 

 v2–style pools in which the ratio of provided tokens is fixed at 50:50. However, unlike standard Uniswap v2 pools, Zaps liquidity provision doesn't result in losses due to any imbalance in the ratio of contributed assets.

To correct any deviations from the 50:50 ratio at the liquidity provision stage, Odos Zaps recalculates and rebalances your asset contributions to deliver you the maximum number of LP tokens. Such rebalancing is used for standard Uniswap v2–style pools.

Additionally, Odos Zaps can be used for non-standard pools that don't conform to the Uniswap v2 format, and any imbalances in your asset contributions are returned to your wallet — instead of being rebalanced — so you pay only the minimum required amount for your LP tokens.

The Odos Loyalty Program rewards users based on the amount of transaction revenue generated from their on-platform trading activities. Rewards are calculated for each epoch (which currently lasts 30 days). The primary rewards within the program are transaction fee rebates, which are paid out to users (after each epoch) in ODOS tokens.

Rebate rates vary by tier, with each membership tier based on a specific number of ODOS tokens locked on the platform. The more ODOS you lock, the higher the rebate percentage. Loyalty badges are given to users who attain certain membership tiers. The table below shows the rebate rates and ODOS requirements for each tier of the program.

The Odos DAO is the platform's decentralized, community-driven governance structure. It's designed to support all matters related to Odos's governance and decentralized development, including facilitating on-chain voting by ODOS token holders. Both the DAO and the platform's 

, ODOS, were launched in December 2024, more than two and a half years after the platform's April 2022 public launch.

The platform's native cryptocurrency, ODOS, is an 

 Layer 2 chain. As noted above, ODOS is used for governance purposes. Token holders can vote on proposals concerning the protocol's future direction, development and rules. Each ODOS token entitles the holder to one vote.

Besides governance, ODOS is also used within the platform's Loyalty Program for transaction rebate payouts and to qualify for different membership tiers.

ODOS is a supply-capped token, with a total and maximum supply specified at 10 billion. The token's supply allocation shares are per the figure below.

The ODOS token is available on Bybit's Spot market as a 

. You can also take advantage of Bybit's 

 (running through Jan 2, 2025, 9AM UTC) for the chance to grab a share of the 9.5 million ODOS prize pool. The first 6,000 new users who complete basic identity verification can earn 1,000 ODOS if they accumulate a deposit volume of at least 3,000 ODOS, or deposit at least 100 USDT and trade 100 USDT worth of ODOS for their first trade with Bybit.Meanwhile, existing users can qualify for up to 

 by trading at least 500 USDT worth of ODOS on the Spot market.

Odos's optimal order routing solution offers DeFi users a unique way to conduct both simple and multi-token swaps and take advantage of the best rates available across no fewer than 14 blockchain platforms. As Odos increases its number of integrations and partners, it will be able to further optimize transaction costs and ensure that users can benefit from some of the most competitive swap rates available in the world of DeFi. Whether you’re after a complex multi-token swap functionality, or would like the certainty of guaranteed simple swaps with no hidden fees, the Odos DEX aggregator has something in store for you.

Odos (ODOS): Simple and Secure Multichain Swaps

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards