Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) options worth $18.1 billion will expire on Friday. According to Coinbase, Bitcoin’s open-interest put/call ratio is 0.66, with the 24-hour volume ratio at 0.37, while Ethereum’s put/call ratio is 0.61 and its 24-hour volume ratio is 0.55.

Coinbase identified $90,000 and $100,000 as key levels around which Bitcoin call open interest is concentrated, while Ethereum call interest is concentrated between $3,000 and $4,000.

$90,000 And $100,000 In Focus For Bitcoin

Coinbase highlighted $90,000 and $100,000 as key levels where Bitcoin call open interest is clustered. BTC is currently trading around $85,830, putting the $90,000 level about 4% higher and the $100,000 level about 16% higher. However, the concentrations do not mean that BTC will reach either level before expiry. Open interest does not reveal if individual traders bought or sold the call, and many positions are part of larger spreads, hedges, and market-making strategies.

Meanwhile, a put/call ratio below 1 means calls outnumber puts. The 0.37 ratio for BTC options volume suggests a substantial tilt toward calls rather than puts. Meanwhile, BTC has registered a sharp increase in the past few days. The flagship cryptocurrency rose 5.93% on Friday, crossing $80,000 and closing at $80,875. It rose 0.44% on Saturday before marginally declining to $81,159 on Sunday. Upward momentum resumed on Monday as the price rose nearly 7%, crossing $86,000 and closing at $86,594. BTC dropped to a low of $85,059 on Tuesday before settling at $86,198, and is down 0.58% during the ongoing session.

$3,000 And $4,000 Key Levels For Ethereum

Ethereum’s options are also call-heavy, although the order book is substantially smaller. Data from Deribit shows $1.34 billion in ETH call options open interest, against $820 million in puts, with call interest clustered between $3,000 and $4,000. ETH is currently trading around $2,729, down 0.49% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data. Like BTC, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency has reported a substantial jump since last week. ETH traded around $2,416 on September 16, but pushed higher in subsequent sessions to cross $2,800 on September 21. A Reuters report said ETH had crossed a technical resistance level near $2,661, and identified $3,050 as a potential upside if bullish momentum persisted, with extended targets of $3,395 and $3,445.

Bitcoin And Ethereum Options To Settle At 8:00 UTC

The options expiry is part of Deribit’s quarterly expiry cycles, with the Bitcoin and Ethereum options expiring on the last Friday of March, June, September, and December at 8:00 UTC. Settlements use the relevant Deribit index, with delivery prices based on the relevant index’s time-weighted average between 7:30 UTC and 8:00 UTC. Traders and market makers adjust hedges based on the expiry size as prices move closer to key strike levels.

Deribit handles around 85% of Bitcoin and Ethereum options, making its quarterly expiries a substantial chunk of the crypto derivatives market. The platform reported $56.13 billion in Bitcoin options turnover and $7.14 billion in Ethereum options turnover during August.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Wall Street’s benchmark equity index S&P 500 is near record highs, but the index’s internals look weak. The crypto market, meanwhile, looks relatively better.

The internals here are represented by breadth, or the number of index stocks trading above a specific level, in this case the 200-day average, a widely followed measure of long-term momentum. As CNBC noted recently, a growing share of stocks falling below that level can signal that strength in the headline index is deteriorating.

As of Wednesday, 257 out of the 500 stocks traded below their 200-day MAs. In other words, breadth was bearish.

Compared with that, the crypto market looks healthier. Out of the top 100 tokens by market value, 88, including bitcoin and ether, trade above their 200-day SMAs. Most trade above their 50-, 100- and 200-day averages, a bullish configuration. (We’re focusing only on the top 100 because coins beyond that list tend to have smaller market caps, low liquidity and erratic price moves.)

And the icing on the cake: Bitcoin, ether, XRP, SOL and most others are still well below their record highs. In other words, they look inexpensive relative to stocks.

Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), the Austrian banking group with a footprint across Central and Eastern Europe, is stepping up its cryptocurrency ambitions by tying up with Bitpanda at a group level. The partnership is designed to give RBI’s network banks access to crypto infrastructure, enabling them to roll out digital-asset services in line with local rules.

According to a joint announcement by RBI and Bitpanda, the arrangement could eventually place crypto brokerage capabilities within reach of as many as 18 million customers. The banks themselves will decide which products to offer and how quickly to launch, depending on market conditions and regulatory requirements.

Key takeaways

• RBI is partnering with Bitpanda to provide group-wide access to crypto infrastructure through “Bitpanda Enterprise.”
• Individual network banks will control the timing and scope of crypto services based on local market and regulatory constraints.
• The partnership could potentially reach around 18 million customers, but rollout is expected to be gradual.
• The move follows an earlier Bitpanda integration involving Austria’s Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien, launched in 2024.
• Bitpanda says it remains in ongoing discussions with financial institutions, while declining to comment on confidential talks.

What RBI and Bitpanda are launching

The agreement centers on Bitpanda’s enterprise-grade infrastructure, which RBI’s network banks can use to introduce crypto services. While the group-level partnership establishes the technical and operational foundation, the announcement emphasizes that each bank will tailor offerings to its own operating environment.

That approach matters for investors and customers because crypto rollouts in the EU often depend heavily on jurisdiction-specific licensing, compliance processes, and product constraints. Instead of a single, simultaneous product launch across all markets, the structure allows institutions to move at different speeds—reducing regulatory exposure while still creating a pathway to expand.

RBI CEO Michael Höllerer said the bank is responding to “growing demand for crypto assets” across its markets. In his remarks, Höllerer framed the partnership as part of a customer-focused effort to meet client needs in a responsible way.

Why “group-wide infrastructure” is a strategic shift

Large banking groups typically face a familiar challenge when entering crypto: coordination. Even when the strategic direction is clear, each subsidiary or network bank can encounter different regulator expectations, banking relationships, and compliance requirements. By working with Bitpanda Enterprise, RBI is effectively standardizing the crypto plumbing at the network level—while keeping local decision-making intact.

Bitpanda’s spokesperson, speaking to Cointelegraph, said the rollout is currently at an early stage and will proceed gradually. The spokesperson added that further details will be released as individual markets confirm their plans. That staged model also suggests RBI and Bitpanda are working through implementation steps bank-by-bank, rather than committing to a one-size-fits-all timetable.

For market participants, the significance is less about a single product headline and more about distribution. If multiple network banks adopt crypto services using the same underlying infrastructure, it could accelerate adoption compared with isolated, one-off integrations—assuming regulators and compliance teams can scale alongside the deployment.

Building on an earlier Austrian integration

This partnership is not RBI’s first foray into Bitpanda-linked crypto capabilities. The new announcement builds on a crypto integration launched in 2024 between Bitpanda and Austria’s Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien, according to Bitpanda’s earlier coverage.

That earlier step is important because it indicates the relationship between the parties already had a working basis before being expanded across the RBI group. Rather than introducing crypto from scratch, RBI appears to be extending an existing integration pathway to additional banks—an evolution that can reduce implementation risk and speed up learning.

Still, the current plans remain conditional: the scope and timing of customer-facing crypto services will vary by local market, and the early-stage nature of the rollout means investors should expect updates to be incremental rather than immediate.

Regulatory context and Bitpanda’s position in the EU

Bitpanda is authorized under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation (MiCA), according to information cited in the original announcement. MiCA is designed to bring greater regulatory consistency across EU crypto activities, which has been a key prerequisite for banks and other traditional finance players assessing how to offer digital asset products.

The operational advantage for RBI’s network banks is that they can partner with a provider operating within the MiCA framework, potentially simplifying certain compliance elements. Even then, each bank still bears responsibility for how it structures offerings for its customers and how it implements internal controls.

Bitpanda also told Cointelegraph that it is regularly in discussions with banks and other financial institutions exploring crypto brokerage services. However, it declined to comment on any specific confidential talks beyond the partnership with RBI, reinforcing that many institution-level explorations may be ongoing without public timelines.

Earlier coverage from Cointelegraph noted that banks are doubling down on the EU’s MiCA crypto provider list, reflecting broader industry momentum toward regulated crypto infrastructure rather than ad hoc services.

What to watch next

Readers should expect the next signals to come from individual RBI network banks as they confirm launch readiness, product choices, and the jurisdictions where services will first become available. The headline “up to 18 million customers” frames the potential scale, but the real test will be how quickly real-world crypto offerings roll out across different regulatory environments—and how effectively banks translate infrastructure access into compliant, customer-facing products.

Bitcoin Cash jumped 28% to nearly $349 over 24 hours, the largest move among sizeable tokens, after CME Group said on Monday it will list Bitcoin Cash and Uniswap futures from Oct. 19.

Futures on a regulated U.S. exchange give funds a way to take a position without holding the coin, which matters for institutions whose mandates bar them from custodying crypto directly. It also gives market makers a hedging venue, which usually tightens spot pricing.

Bitcoin itself is trading around $85,800, down under 1% over 24 hours after matching Monday’s intraday high near $87,300 and meeting the same selling into it. ZEC rose 9% to just above $1,646 and XRP 3% to nearly $1.59, while TRX fell 2%.

“Optimism in the altcoin market and in equities suggests that we are witnessing a temporary shift of speculative capital from the leading cryptocurrency into altcoins,” Alex Kuptsikevich, senior analyst at FxPro, said in an email to CoinDesk. “Many investors had parked their cryptocurrency-allocated capital in the most liquid asset class and are now seeking more profitable opportunities.”

“In such situations, there has previously been a slowdown but not a reversal in BTC, as price pullbacks have attracted new buyers who had previously kept their money out of the risky crypto market,” he added.

On BCH specifically, the note pointed out the token has only climbed back to levels last seen in the second half of May, after reversing near $660 in early January and falling to $190.

A continued bid would put $450 in range, where buyers were active between October 2025 and this May.

The US CFTC is signaling that regulators may have to rethink how markets function as tokenization spreads beyond crypto-native assets and into traditional finance. In remarks delivered Tuesday at the US Treasury Market Conference, CFTC Chair Michael Selig argued that “mass tokenization” could become a foundation for a more efficient financial system, driven by existing regulatory frameworks being adapted for blockchain-based settlement, collateral flows, and onchain market infrastructure.

Selig’s comments landed amid ongoing legislative uncertainty around crypto regulation, and alongside parallel efforts by the SEC to create regulated pathways for tokenized securities trading. Together, the two agencies’ messaging suggests US regulators are converging on the idea that tokenized markets will expand regardless of the pace of broader statutory reform.

Key takeaways

• CFTC Chair Michael Selig said financial markets should prepare for “mass tokenization,” with regulators updating existing frameworks for onchain finance.
• Selig framed tokenization of real-world assets as a potential shift toward near-instant settlement and real-time collateral movement across market participants.
• The CFTC’s latest crypto regulatory filing for White House review is still at the “prerule” stage and does not yet specify proposed rules.
• On the SEC side, tokenized US stock trading has advanced via a temporary “Innovation Exemption,” reflecting a step-by-step regulatory approach.

CFTC prepares for tokenized finance across asset classes

At the Treasury Market Conference, Selig drew an analogy between earlier market modernization—moving from “hand signals to electronic trading”—and the potential of tokenization to accelerate processing across asset classes. He said tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) could support a more efficient system by enabling near-instant settlement and real-time collateral transfer between clearinghouses, intermediaries, and end users.

Importantly, Selig also described the CFTC’s regulatory posture as “principles-based.” That signals an approach focused on outcomes and risk controls rather than prescriptive technology rules, a stance that matters for builders because it may allow multiple tokenization architectures to fit within a common regulatory logic—as long as market conduct and compliance expectations are met.

Legislation stalled, but regulators keep moving

Selig’s remarks come after the CFTC had indicated it could proceed with crypto-related rulemaking under its existing authority if Congress did not enact the CLARITY Act. According to earlier coverage referenced in the article, the Senate failed to advance the bill on Sept. 15, leaving the question of comprehensive statutory clarity unresolved.

Since then, the CFTC continued its process. On Sept. 17, the CFTC submitted a regulatory action covering crypto asset transactions and markets for White House review, according to the filing described in earlier reporting. The filing is reportedly still at the “prerule” stage, meaning it does not yet detail the specific regulations the CFTC intends to pursue.

For market participants, the key takeaway is that regulatory work is progressing even without final legislative momentum. However, the lack of detail in the “prerule” stage also implies that traders, exchanges, custodians, and tokenization providers should expect ongoing uncertainty as proposals are drafted and reviewed.

SEC also pushes tokenized market infrastructure

While the CFTC is discussing tokenization in the context of a broader shift in market plumbing, the SEC has been taking steps focused on securities trading. The article notes that Jamie Selway, Director of the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets, told Bloomberg TV that tokenization and crypto have recently become politicized, but that they are “not naturally a politicized function.” Selway also argued that US success in developing these markets should receive bipartisan support.

The agency’s practical pathway has included temporary regulatory allowances. On Sept. 17, the SEC granted a temporary “Innovation Exemption” for tokenized US stock trading. As described in the source, the exemption allows certain platforms to trade digital versions of US-listed stocks under specified conditions.

This matters because it represents a concrete mechanism for compliance testing—allowing limited market activity while longer-term rules are developed. It also reflects the SEC’s preference for incremental regulatory frameworks that can be refined based on observed market behavior and risk outcomes.

What to watch: convergence, but not synchronization

Taken together, the CFTC’s “mass tokenization” framing and the SEC’s temporary securities trading exemption point to a shared view: tokenization is likely to move from experimentation toward mainstream market infrastructure. Yet the agencies are not necessarily moving in lockstep. The CFTC’s position is rooted in adapting existing authority and establishing principles-based rules as onchain markets evolve, while the SEC’s approach—at least in the securities segment cited here—has emphasized targeted exemptions to manage regulatory transition.

Readers should watch for what emerges once the CFTC’s “prerule” filing advances beyond White House review and begins to outline more concrete rulemaking goals. At the same time, attention will likely remain on whether the SEC’s Innovation Exemption becomes a template for broader or longer-lasting tokenized securities permissions, and what conditions regulators ultimately consider essential for investor protection and market integrity.

Bitwise has launched its first exchange traded product tracking Lighter’s LIT token on Deutsche Börse Xetra, giving European investors access to the asset through conventional brokerage accounts.

According to Bitwise, the Bitwise Lighter Staking ETP began trading under the ticker BLIT on Sept. 23 and tracks the Kaiko Lighter Reference Rate. The product carries an annual total expense ratio of 0.85% and is issued by Bitwise Europe GmbH in Germany.

Bitwise Lighter ETP holds more than 1 million LIT

BLIT is physically backed by LIT held in cold storage, meaning the product holds the underlying cryptocurrency instead of providing synthetic exposure to its price.

Bitwise data showed 202,594 ETP units outstanding as of Sept. 23, backed by 1.01 million LIT. Assets under management stood at approximately $4.74 million, with each ETP unit representing just under 5 LIT.

The structure allows investors to gain exposure to LIT using a regular brokerage account without directly holding the cryptocurrency or managing private keys and wallets.

LIT serves as the native token of Lighter, an Ethereum layer 2 decentralized exchange focused on perpetual futures and other onchain markets. The platform uses zero knowledge proofs to verify order matching and liquidations while processing transactions away from Ethereum before submitting proofs to the network.

Lighter has expanded beyond crypto perpetuals by offering markets tied to assets such as Apple, Amazon and Tesla shares. Users gain price exposure through perpetual contracts instead of owning the underlying stocks.

The exchange generates revenue from professional market makers, liquidations and treasury income while charging retail traders no trading fees.

Lighter has become one of the more active platforms in the decentralized perpetual futures market. During a major crypto market selloff in February, the exchange processed roughly $7.5 billion in perpetual futures volume over 24 hours, accounting for close to 9.5% of activity tracked across the sector.

Could the Bitwise ETP impact Lighter price?

The launch gives LIT another potential source of demand because BLIT is backed by the underlying token, but the size of the product remains small compared with LIT’s overall market value.

Bitwise held 1.01 million LIT worth $4.74 million for BLIT as of Sept. 23. CoinGecko placed LIT’s market capitalization at roughly $1.27 billion on the same day, while trading volume stood near $84.7 million.

BLIT therefore represents a small portion of the existing LIT market at launch. Its effect on supply could become more noticeable if the ETP attracts sustained inflows that require more tokens to back newly created units.

LIT was already trading higher around the launch. CoinGecko data showed the token at roughly $5 on Sept. 23, with its value in several currency pairs up close to 9% over the previous 24 hours. LIT had closed Sept. 21 near $4.74 before moving to $5.07 on Sept. 22.

The timing means the ETP listing has arrived during an existing move in LIT, making it difficult to attribute the token’s gains solely to Bitwise’s product.

Previous developments have shown that new distribution channels can coincide with LIT price moves. When Lighter added Robinhood Chain collateral support, LIT gained roughly 15%, while the integration gave eligible Robinhood Wallet users direct access to Lighter perpetual futures.

A similar access point opened in August when Upbit added a LIT won market, allowing customers to buy the token directly against South Korea’s currency.

Supply remains another factor. LIT launched with 25% of its total supply distributed through a community airdrop. Half of the overall token supply was allocated to the ecosystem, while 26% went to the team and 24% to investors. Team and investor allocations were placed under a one year lockup followed by three years of linear vesting.

Bitwise’s current holdings are therefore small compared with the amount of LIT that could enter circulation under the token’s longer term distribution schedule.

Staking has not started for BLIT

Despite its name, the Bitwise Lighter Staking ETP is not currently staking the LIT backing the product.

Bitwise said staking will begin only after BLIT reaches sufficient assets under management to make staking operations efficient. The company has not disclosed the required asset level or a date for activation.

Until then, BLIT provides exposure only to LIT’s price, while investors continue to pay the product’s 0.85% annual fee.

If staking begins, rewards earned by the ETP are expected to accrue daily and be reflected in the amount of cryptocurrency represented by each unit. Bitwise said it will announce the start of staking separately.

LIT already has staking functions within the Lighter ecosystem. Staking can provide access to the Lighter Liquidity Pool, with each staked LIT allowing users to deposit up to 10 USDC into the pool. Unstaking carries a three day lockup period.

Lighter has tied its token economics to protocol activity as well. The project launched LIT in December with plans to direct protocol revenue between ecosystem growth and token purchases depending on market conditions.

The buyback mechanism has previously coincided with price moves. LIT climbed around 16% when Lighter’s treasury began token buybacks in January, when protocol fees began flowing toward market purchases.

Bitwise expands its onchain trading products

BLIT follows Bitwise’s move into investment products tracking tokens connected to decentralized perpetual futures platforms.

The asset manager launched the Bitwise Hyperliquid Staking ETP in Europe in April, giving investors exchange traded exposure to HYPE. Bitwise later introduced a U.S. Hyperliquid ETF in May.

The U.S. product recorded 16 consecutive days of inflows following its launch before posting its first daily outflow in June, showing how flows into exchange traded crypto products can change after their initial trading period. Crypto.news previously reported that the Bitwise ETF created another regulated demand channel for HYPE while exposing the token to changes in ETF flows.

Lighter and Hyperliquid have competed for activity in the decentralized perpetual futures market. Lighter recorded close to $198 billion in 30 day perpetuals volume toward the end of 2025, compared with roughly $166 billion for Hyperliquid at the time.

Bitwise Managing Director and Head of Europe Bradley Duke said the new ETP expands the firm’s European staking products into a platform bringing assets such as U.S. stocks onto blockchain infrastructure.

“As on-chain trading platforms increasingly bridge crypto and mainstream markets, we expect this kind of infrastructure to become more relevant to a broader range of investors,” Duke said.

Lighter founder and CEO Vladimir Novakovski said the platform was built to provide institutional grade perpetuals trading onchain using zero knowledge proofs for verifiable execution.

“We’re excited to bring LIT to European investors who don’t yet have a direct way into on-chain markets,” Novakovski said.

BLIT is domiciled in Germany and listed on Deutsche Börse Xetra under ISIN DE000A4AV9T5. Bitwise lists the product as a secured debt security with physical replication, no leverage and no asset lending.