Welcome to this introduction to our cryptocurrency options course. This course has been created by Deribit, a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, and the leading options exchange in the cryptocurrency space.
In traditional financial markets, options are already an integral part of the derivatives market. In comparison, options are still a relatively young and fast growing segment of the overall cryptocurrency market.
There are many cryptocurrency traders who have little or no experience trading options, but are keen to learn about this incredibly powerful and versatile instrument type. There are also traders who already have some experience trading options in traditional markets, but find that there is an extra knowledge hurdle when making the jump over to cryptocurrency options. This is usually because the inverse contracts found on cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Deribit, have slightly different mathematics behind them than the linear contracts most traders are used to. These traders are also familiar with using the quote currency (usually the US dollar) as collateral, but far less familiar with using the base currency (such as bitcoin) as collateral.
This course is aimed at progressing all students to a point where they have enough knowledge to be completely comfortable placing cryptocurrency options trades.
You will first build a foundation of essential knowledge of the basics of derivatives and specifically options. Then you will move on to gain a deeper understanding of both dollar denominated and bitcoin denominated options contracts.
Next you will learn about option pricing, implied volatility and option pricing models. In particular the widely used Black Scholes Merton option pricing model. This will lead neatly on to the other results of this model, the option Greeks.
The Greeks such as delta, theta, vega, and gamma, will all be covered in detail in their own sections. You will also then see how each of these Greeks behaves for different option positions, including multi leg strategies.
This course isn’t about teaching a specific trading system, however you will learn about many of the most common option strategies. This will include trading both price and volatility with bullish, bearish and neutral strategies. Many live trade examples will also be shown, from order entry all the way through to closing the position and expiration.
Option screens can be overwhelming with so much data on display. These live examples will give you a valuable reference that helps you navigate the option chain to find what you want, and to place your trades with confidence.
While it’s not strictly necessary, any trading experience you have, even if it’s not specifically with options, will come in handy and allow you to pick things up much quicker.
So, if you’re interested in learning about options in general or more specifically interested in cryptocurrency options, then this course will give you the knowledge you require to get started.