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

block-scholes-x-bybit-report.jpeg

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

flock.png

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

network3 tutorial.png

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.

2.png

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

Bybit Learn

Mintle is developed through a collaboration between Rarible and Mantle, designed to offer a unique and user-friendly platform for trading NFTs. Learn more here.

 trading has taken center stage, captivating the interest of artists, collectors and investors alike. 

 serve as the pivotal platforms where these unique digital assets change hands, fostering creativity and enabling financial transactions in the virtual realm. 

As the landscape continues to evolve, new players are emerging, each bringing something distinctive to the table. In this exploration, we’ll turn our focus to a latest entry into the bustling NFT market — Mintle. We’ll uncover its origins, the entities fostering its growth, its mission and the innovative mechanics that underpin its operation, offering a unique platform for digital assets within Mantle Network.

 is a cutting-edge NFT marketplace developed through a collaboration between 

, designed to offer a unique and user-friendly platform for trading digital collectibles.

Mintle enables users to not only buy and sell NFTs, but also mint them. Some of the collections already available on the Mintle NFT marketplace include 

Mintle is the brainchild of Mantle and Rarible, two prominent entities in the blockchain and NFT spaces. Mantle is known for its high-performance, modular Layer 2 blockchain, while Rarible stands out as a leading NFT platform supporting both established and emerging creators. The inception of Mintle was fueled by a shared vision to create an unparalleled secondary NFT marketplace, leveraging the strengths of both organizations to enhance the trading experience for Mantle NFTs.

Mintle sets out to address various challenges in the NFT Ecosystem. It endeavors to streamline NFT transactions and foster the expansion of the Mantle Ecosystem. By addressing data availability issues in 

 and minimizing transaction costs, the Mintle marketplace strives to offer a swift, straightforward and economical trading experience. Additionally, it aims to unlock new revenue streams for creators through features like enforced royalties, fostering community-centric marketplaces.

The functionality of Mintle is rooted in the amalgamation of Rarible’s advanced technology and Mantle’s efficient blockchain. This integration culminates in a user-centric platform that facilitates smooth trading of Mantle NFTs. Mintle is driven by community engagement, enabling various creators and projects within the Mantle network to be featured, thereby enriching the diversity of the NFT ecosystem.

Creators interested in listing their NFT projects on Mantle or bridging their collections over to the Mantle Ecosystem are encouraged to 

Every transaction is subject to gas fees paid in MNT, the native token of Mantle Network. If you don’t already have MNT tokens, you can purchase them on exchanges such as Bybit. 

A notable feature of Mintle is the implementation of enforced 

, ensuring that creators receive a fair share of the proceeds from subsequent sales of their NFTs on the Mintle marketplace.

In a noteworthy collaboration with the globally acclaimed artist 

, Mantle has unveiled its first native NFT collection entitled 

. This unique collection serves as an entryway to a rich, interactive experience within the expansive Mantle Ecosystem.

The avatars from the Citizens of Mantle collection are more than just digital companions; they’re a reflection of a user’s journey and achievements within the Mantle Ecosystem. As participants explore, build, connect and trade, their avatars evolve, acquiring distinctive traits and unlocking additional advantages, making each interaction personalized and rewarding.

Chen Man, the creative mind behind this collection, is recognized for her distinctive artistic approach that blends the realms of fashion photography and fine art. Her collaboration with Mantle is a pioneering venture, symbolizing a union with one of the largest 

-led web3 ecosystems and pushing the boundaries of artistic and digital expression.

Embodied in the hashtags #PlayOnMantle and #BuildOnMantle, this collection represents Mantle’s dedication to nurturing community-driven platforms and innovations. It invites users to a celestial journey of intertwining layers and modular excellence, narrating untold stories in the digital realm. The Citizens of Mantle aren’t mere digital entities, as they symbolize leadership and innovation, steering the course of the Mantle Ecosystem into future epochs.

For users of the Citizens of Mantle collection, a clear road map is laid out, beginning with eligibility verification for the whitelist, progressing to the official minting of NFTs and culminating in the availability of additional traits for enhancing their digital assets. 

The official whitelist for Citizens of Mantle was first announced on Jul 13, 2023 on 

. Only users who qualified as Active Unique Early Contributors (AUEC) to the Mantle Ecosystem were eligible to take part in the whitelist. Those who didn’t qualify could still sign up for the waitlist, and the Mantle team would evaluate their qualifications and determine if they were eligible for the whitelist. 

The whitelist ended on Sep 23, 2023 and winners were notified by email. If you applied to join the whitelist previously, you can also check if you made the list 

Now that the whitelist for Citizens of Mantle has ended, it’s likely that the official NFT mint will take place very soon. You can keep up with the latest updates by following the official Mantle and Mintle social media pages.

While the Citizens of Mantle NFTs are free to mint for users on the whitelist, they will have to pay for the minting gas fee. 

After the NFT mint, Mantle will gradually move into the next phase in which tasks will be released on a regular basis for users to complete. Upon completion, they can then earn different add-on traits for their Citizens of Mantle NFTs.

Mintle, a convergence of Rarible and Mantle’s visions, is positioned to reshape the NFT trading arena by addressing pivotal challenges and presenting a diverse and accessible platform for digital assets. With its commitment to innovation and features such as enforced royalties, Mintle stands as a beacon of progress in fostering community-centric marketplaces and supporting the growth of the Mantle Network's NFT vertical.

Mintle NFT Marketplace: Seamless Trading With Mantle & Rarible

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards