Bitcoin- volatility collapse forces risk-loving traders elsewhere

BITCOIN, once the unruly child of finance, is showing signs of maturity as its wild swings fade, forcing speculative traders to hunt for a new playground.

- BLOOMBERG

The world’s biggest cryptocurrency is behaving more like a blue-chip stock as Wall Street's buy-and-hold investors plunge in. Annualized volatility has dropped to a once-unthinkable 38% from close to 200% more than a decade ago. It is now comparable to the likes of Starbucks Corp. or Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to Bytetree Asset Management.

Investors chasing price swings are instead turning to rival Ethereum, the second-largest virtual currency. On several trading days this month, Ether exchange-traded fund volumes have matched or surpassed their Bitcoin counterparts on the heels of a corporate-buying frenzy.

BlackRock’s Ether ETF launched only in April, already accounts for $5.5 billion in open options positions, roughly 40% the amount for Ether on the crypto-derivatives platform Deribit.