Activity in PowerTrade’s options market for alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) increased this week due to heightened market volatility, prompting traders to seek derivatives for hedging and speculative opportunities.

Trading volume in XRP options has surged to over $5 million this week, with most activity focused on short-dated expirations, as per data shared by PowerTrade. The flows have been evenly divided between put options with strikes ranging from $1.80 to $1.98 and calls with strikes between $1.80 to $1.93.

Bernd Sischka, head of institutional sales at PowerTrade, noted that this activity indicates traders are positioning for significant short-term price movements, whether from regulatory developments or a breakout pattern, with an equal balance between bullish and bearish structures.

The volatility in the market is reflected by XRP dropping to a five-month low of $1.61 earlier this week, only to bounce back to $2. A call option provides the buyer with the right to purchase the underlying asset at a predetermined price on or before a specific date, while a put option allows the buyer to profit from or hedge against price declines.

Hedging activity was observed in SOL options, with traders seeking puts with strikes between $104 to $121. Solana’s SOL token briefly fell to $95 on Monday amid U.S.-China trade tensions, before rebounding to $115.

Despite market uncertainties, traders showed interest in dogecoin, which dropped to 13 cents this week and currently trades at 15.7 cents. The most popular plays were calls at 14.5, 15.5, 17.5, and 18 cents, expiring on April 13, indicating a speculative frenzy.

According to Sischka, the flow indicates momentum trading with short-dated, low-premium bets aimed at capturing quick surges, likely tied to social media or event-driven catalysts. Overall, short-dated expiries and directional bets are driving altcoin options market activity.

However, the altcoin options market remains considerably smaller than the bitcoin and ether options market, dominated by Deribit, where contracts worth millions of dollars are traded daily.