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

GameFi

Altcoins

Alien Worlds is an extensible, decentralized play-to-earn metaverse where users participate in intergalactic exploration missions.

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Living in space has always fascinated humans — look at the rate at which top billionaires are racing to tour the outer galaxies! While most ordinary people don’t have the gazillions needed to tour space, their dreams of exploring Mars and other galactic bodies can be achieved virtually. With crypto game-changing concepts such as the 

, blockchain technology has opened a whole new world of owning a piece of space.

At the heart of virtual space exploration through gaming is 

 metaverse game where players compete and connect in a simulated economy. 

 is powered by Trilium, a cross-chain fungible token that runs on Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain and WAX blockchain.

Let’s go on an exploration mission of the 

 crypto and discover any treasures hidden in its metaverse.

 is an extensible, decentralized play-to-earn metaverse where users participate in intergalactic exploration missions. Gamers are incentivized to use Trilium tokens (TLM), the platform's in-game currency, which they collect during their planetary quests.

The game is structured into planets that operate a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) governance model. These planetary DAOs have a treasury which receives a given amount of the native token TLM daily, used for payouts to its members.

 features a wide variety of NFTs which are up for grabs by explorers. These collectibles are used for mining, owning or renting out land, fighting, gaming or spacecraft missions. The more Trilium a player garners, the higher the power to own NFTs and increase the explorer’s authority in the game.

utilizes an interplay of three blockchains: 

 allows the seamless teleporting of TLM between the three chains. You'll need a WAX wallet for teleporting.

Ethereum’s use case in the game includes storage and accessing TLM using the chain’s 

. As a fast and consumer-centric blockchain, BSC allows for low-cost transactions on 

is WAX, which is an NFT-focused ecosystem that’s home to popular NFT games such as 

 revolves around planets. At its inception, the game had six planets: Eyeke, Veles, Magor, Kavian, Naron and Neri. However, the network allows users to create their own planets, complete with NFTs and games.

(planet DAO) with a dedicated planet portal for TLM holders. Each planet DAO has a planetary treasury and a council that manages the affairs of the planet. Weekly elections are held to vote for council candidates to run the planet DAO.

play-to-earn game, Land ownership is a critical element of 

. Landowners can earn a 20% commission in Trilium from miners excavating their land.

gameplay revolves around mining quests and fighting games, where the reward is TLM or NFTs. Everything on its metaverse has been tokenized to ensure fair play, from the Avatars to the Weapons, Minions and Tools.

By entering a wormhole, a gamer is flung into an amazing extraterrestrial world packed with loads of habitable planets. Once in, a user is equipped with a free shovel from the Tools NFTs to help start the mission. Your time mining is spent between actual excavating and recharge time. The secret to a more lucrative mining game is identifying Land that’s a gem, with a large TLM reward pool.

No mining quest is complete without proper tools. The trick when selecting tools is picking one with high mining power but low cool-down time. As a novice, you’ll quickly mine Abundant and Common rarities, which will fetch you a decent amount on 

. However, with advanced mining skills, you’ll obtain Epic or Legendary rarities. On rare occasions, you’ll mine the scarcest rarity, Mythical — pure gold!

Fancy some metaverse space battle? Then the Thunderdome Battle is a must! Using the Weapons, Avatars and Minions NFTs, you can battle it out against other users. Styled after 

, many minions enter the battlefield — but only one can emerge victorious. The game mechanics of Thunderdome make the strongest minion a target for the other weaker ones. Top minions receive rewards and NFT drops.

Trilium (TLM ) is the in-game currency of 

. As the utility token, TLM’s role is to ensure that 

TLM is used for planetary governance, staking for rewards, purchase of in-game items, gameplay incentives and acquiring NFTs. In short, 

TLM is a cross-chain token that exists on Ethereum (

 between each blockchain through the use of 

 are hunting for TLM. You can accumulate more TLM through mining or going on an exploratory mission. And as a land owner, you can even earn passive income from miners excavating your land! Each planet is allocated a given amount of TLM daily, depending on the number of landowners.

You can stake TLM in a given planet to increase the planet’s reward pool. Staking rewards are awarded in TLM and NFTs which can help in quests or battles.

Also, holding TLM earns users voting rights in the planet DAO governance. A gamer can participate in weekly elections — and even submit their candidacy to join the governing council.

To ensure scarcity, there’s a total supply of 5 billion TLM tokens, with a 

 of 2.61 billion. The total supply is programmed to decline each year using a complex algorithmic mechanism.

 has factored in inflation at different percentages over several years, with the circulating supply declining yearly.

The distribution and allocation of TLM are as shown below:

, TLM coins use advanced token mechanics to reconcile cross-chain movements across the three chains. The mechanism ensures a max supply of 10 billion TLM. Using 

 (off-chain accounts used for sourcing the truth), the system can easily communicate and reconcile TLM movement across chains.

. At its inception, the game floated about 300 NFTs in six different categories, which could be traded for a profit or to conquer missions during quests. Digital collectibles on 

 have two distinct features: Rarity and Shininess.

is divided into six levels. The rarer an NFT, the greater its power when mining or fighting. On the other hand,

provides gamers with better stats — and looks cooler. All NFTs in 

Land is a series of NFT game cards that represent real estate ownership on 

planets. With Land, you can mine on it to receive TLM or rent it out for a commission to explorers. At inception, planets were allocated finite pieces of Land, with any unsold Land remaining with the Federation.

, you need Tools that help you carry out different tasks. Each Tool has four different stats that dictate the amount of TLM you can mine, your chance to receive an NFT, and the cool-down time before you can mine again.

Minions (no relation to the Minions movie) are the NFTs used in 

 fighting games. Minion NFTs can attack, defend and race. You can boost the power of the Minions using Weapon NFTs. At its start, 

 released 12 Minions, and more are expected as the game expands its battlefield framework.

Source: AlienWorlds.io, Alt Text: Epic Minion NFTs on Alien Worlds

To battle it out with other explorers in the Thunderdome fighting game, you’ll need the Weapon NFTs. Whether you opt for the Waxon Fire Sword to attack, or the Waxon Shield to defend yourself, having a Weapon NFT will prove useful in your quests.

Your selection of Avatars gives you an identity. While these NFTs don’t affect your gameplay, they are your face in the metaverse.

. They give you the thrill of exploring the game’s metaverse in leased spacecraft. During these missions, gamers are rewarded using TLM or Mission NFTs that can be traded for a profit. 

Alien Worlds Price Prediction — Is TLM A Good Investment?

 top-notch graphics, prize-worthy NFT game cards, cross-chain structure, and busy ecosystem with an ever-increasing market cap have placed it among the Defi play-to-earn games to watch. DappRadar currently 

 above Axie Infinity, which now sits in the seventh position.

Its solid tokenomics, which are immune to inflation, add to its appeal. Many experts are bullish on its price, with 

 expecting its price to rise to an average of $0.053 by 2023, and possibly even to hit $0.11 by 2025. 

, while also bullish, predicts a more modest climb to an average of $0.044 by 2023, reaching $0.056 by 2025.

, is available as a derivative contract on leading cryptocurrency exchanges including Bybit. Unlike spot trading, 

 trading allows investors to speculate on an asset’s future price, rather than its current one. On Bybit’s user-friendly derivatives trading market, you can leverage Trilium TLM and other altcoins as USDT trading pairs.

on Bybit, the TLMUSDT contract is settled in USDT, with each contract worth 1 TLM and funded every 8 hours.

The following are the five quick and easy steps for trading the TLMUSDT perpetual contract on Bybit.

To start, you need to create an account with Bybit. 

 is fast, easy and free. To do so, go to Bybit’s official website and click on 

. Proceed to enter your preferred email address and phone number.

A strong email password will also need to be created. You’ll be required to complete the quick verification process to capture your KYC details. Once done, you can start trading.

You’ll need to feed your account with USDT to begin trading. To fund your account, you can use Bybit’s Fiat deposit page. Once purchased, click on 

 in the right-hand corner of the platform and deposit your USDT to 

 on the website’s navigation tabs. From the drop-down menu, click on 

. You will be directed to the trading terminal. To order, use the order box on the right (the green button for “buy” and the red button for “sell”).

: Limit, Market and Conditional. While the limit order takes longer to fill than the market order, it’s much cheaper. Proceed to enter the minimum amount of TLM you wish to transact.

(Pro Tip: Leveraged trading is highly risky. Please read and understand the risks associated with 

Select a long or short position. If you believe that the 

 button. However, if your analysis predicts a fall in the 

button. Since crypto trading is highly volatile, always remember to cushion yourself by entering a 

section at the bottom of the trading terminal. To opt out, click on the 

may currently be the most popular play-to-earn game around, with its players growing by the thousands each day — but it still shows its continuing determination to improve and attract even more players. The 

 team is constantly working to improve the game's ecosystem, with more exciting features and game extensions yet to be revealed. As the DeFi gaming space gains further traction, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if the TLM token price skyrockets. 

Alien Worlds (TLM): Play to Earn in an Alien Landscape

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards