Earlier today, RIOT hit a three-year high of $19.23
Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) stock is down 4.6% at $16.22 at last check, pulling back from its three-year high of $19.23 earlier in the day. The cryptocurrency mining stock -- which focuses largely on Bitcoin -- has been carving out a channel of higher highs since mid-November, enjoying Bitcoins' recent rally past key levels.
Today's negative price action is likely due to Bitcoin plummeting. However, a short-term breather may have already been in the cards, based on RIOT's 14-day Relative Strenth Index (RSI) of 75, which sits firmly in "overbought" territory. Still, In the past month alone, the equity is up 62.4%.
Options players are leaning way more bearish today than they have in the past. This is per RIOT's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 4.33 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). which sits higher than 94% of all readings from the past year. This shows long calls are being picked up at a much faster-than-usual clip.
Drilling down to today's options activity, puts are running at roughly 1.8 times the average intraday amount. So far, 85,000 calls and 47,000 puts have crossed the tape. The most popular position by far is the weekly 1/8 17-strike put, where new positions are being opened.