March 26, 2026 — Significant and unusual options trading volume targeted three Russell 3000 components on Thursday, with Marathon Digital Holdings Inc., Wave Life Sciences Ltd., and Golar LNG Ltd. drawing outsized attention from derivatives traders.
Marathon Digital Sees Heavy Put Volume
Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) saw the most pronounced activity. A total of 378,727 options contracts traded, representing approximately 37.9 million underlying shares. This volume equates to about 75.6% of the cryptocurrency miner’s average daily trading volume over the past month, which stands at 50.1 million shares.
Market data highlighted particularly heavy trading in the $9 strike put option expiring March 27, 2026. Traders exchanged 38,275 contracts for that strike, representing roughly 3.8 million underlying shares of MARA. This concentrated activity at a near-term, out-of-the-money put strike suggests some traders are positioning for potential downside or hedging existing long positions ahead of the weekly expiration.
Wave Life Sciences and Golar LNG Activity
Options volume for Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ: WVE) reached 19,228 contracts. This represents about 1.9 million underlying shares, or 69.7% of the biotech firm’s average daily trading volume over the past month. The $6 strike call option expiring April 17, 2026, saw notable interest, with 3,790 contracts trading hands.
For Golar LNG (NASDAQ: GLNG), options trading volume hit 22,686 contracts. This activity corresponds to approximately 2.3 million underlying shares, accounting for 69.2% of its recent average daily volume. A specific point of focus was the $65 strike call option expiring January 15, 2027, where 5,383 contracts traded.
Analyzing the Trader Sentiment
Unusual options volume can signal several market dynamics. It often indicates that institutional traders or large investors are establishing new positions, hedging existing equity exposure, or speculating on near-term price movements ahead of anticipated news or events. The mix of put activity in MARA and call activity in WVE and GLNG reflects divergent sector-specific sentiments among options market participants.
For retail investors, such activity serves as a gauge of professional market sentiment but does not guarantee future price direction. High volume, especially in out-of-the-money options, can also reflect complex multi-leg strategies rather than a simple directional bet.
Detailed options chain data for these and other securities is available through financial data providers like StockOptionsChannel.com. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also provides official filings that can offer context for unusual market activity.
What Comes Next
Market participants will watch to see if the heavy options volume precedes significant moves in the underlying stock prices of MARA, WVE, and GLNG. The immediate expiration of the active MARA puts will provide a quick test of those positions. Broader market conditions and sector-specific developments will ultimately determine whether this notable derivatives activity was prescient.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by our editorial team for accuracy and quality.
