yolowire.com - The number of bearish option bets against Cryptocurrencies are rising as the market for digital assets continues to slump.
Market data shows that options traders have raised their bets that the price of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) will fall as low as $50,000 U.S. and even $40,000 U.S. in coming months before hitting a bottom.
Bitcoin is currently trading at $56,800 U.S., down from an all-time high of just under $74,000 U.S. reached in March of this year.
The increase in “put” options, which are pessimistic bets that a price will decline in the near-term, have risen after recent data showed a slowdown in the U.S. labour market.
The labour market slowdown has raised concerns that the American economy might be headed for a recession, leading to a selloff in both stocks and cryptocurrencies.
Options traders seem to think that crypto prices have further to fall before the current slump in digital assets reverses.
Put options related to Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency, have also increased in recent days, according to market data.
Despite the negative sentiment towards crypto, relief might be on the way with the U.S. Federal Reserve widely expected to begin lowering interest rates on Sept. 18.
Lower interest rates are seen as a positive development for riskier assets such as cryptocurrencies.
Despite is decline in recent months, Bitcoin remains up nearly 30% on the year.