The on-chain options market has experienced a significant surge in trading volume over the past two weeks, reaching an all-time high. According to ChainCatcher, the first week of February recorded $44 million in trading volume, following $28 million in the last week of January. Over 80% of this volume is concentrated in the Ithaca and Derive protocols, which handled $26 million and $11 million, respectively, last week. Overtime ranked third with a trading volume of $2 million.
The reasons behind this sharp increase in trading volume remain uncertain. Possible factors include the declining annualized yield on USDT loans on Aave, which has dropped to around 2%, reducing its attractiveness. Additionally, there is market anticipation for the upcoming launch of the HIP-4 market by Hyperliquid. Notably, a well-known DeFi trader, Route 2 Fi, recently commented on the X platform that the 2% annualized yield on USDT on Aave is no longer appealing, sparking widespread discussion within the community. This reflects a trend where some users are actively seeking alternative investment channels with higher returns.