BackQuant Glossary
Deribit
The dominant crypto options exchange, holding the majority of global BTC and ETH options open interest. Deribit standard expiries settle Friday at 08:00 UTC. The DVOL and ETH DVOL volatility indices are calculated from Deribit option prices.
Related terms
DVOL
The Deribit BTC volatility index. A 30-day forward-looking implied volatility number derived from a basket of BTC options, similar in concept to the VIX for equities. ETH DVOL is the equivalent index for Ethereum.
BTC
Bitcoin, the largest crypto asset by market cap. The dominant underlying for crypto options, with the deepest options market on Deribit. BTC options open interest typically exceeds the rest of the crypto options market combined.
ETH
Ethereum, the second-largest crypto asset by market cap and the second-largest options market. ETH options track BTC closely but show distinct skew and term-structure dynamics, especially around protocol-level catalysts.
Dealer Hedging
The act of buying or selling the underlying to offset directional exposure created by an options book. Dealers stay delta-neutral by trading spot or perpetuals as price moves. Dealer hedging is the mechanical force behind gamma exposure effects, pinning, and OpEx flows.
Dealer Positioning
The aggregate book of options market makers, estimated from public open-interest data and assumptions about who is naturally long or short each strike. Reading dealer positioning tells you whether their hedging will damp or amplify price action.
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