Bitcoin’s options market has undergone a significant shift, turning sharply bearish as the cryptocurrency extends a steep slide of more than 25% since early October, now hovering near $91,000.
Throughout much of the past year, traders on Deribit had been positioning for aggressive upside, concentrating open interest in high-strike call options at $100,000, $120,000 and even $140,000. The $140,000 call remained the dominant bullish contract for months, consistently holding more than $2 billion in notional value.
That optimism has now evaporated. Open interest on the once-leading $140,000 call has fallen to $1.63 billion, while the market’s largest position has shifted to the $85,000 put, which has surged to $2.05 billion. Put interest at $80,000 and $90,000 has also surpassed the previously favored upside bets, signaling a decisive turn toward defensive positioning.
The move reflects a broader expectation of continued weakness. Traders are increasingly accumulating out-of-the-money puts as both protection and directional wagers on deeper declines. And even though calls remain more numerous overall, puts are trading at significantly higher premiums, highlighting a pronounced skew toward downside risk.
“Options flows clearly show a cautious tone heading into year-end,” said Jean-David Pequignot, chief commercial officer at Deribit. “Short-dated puts between $84K and $80K are attracting the strongest activity. Front-end implied volatility is around 50%, and the curve shows a notable 5% to 6.5% put skew.”
The same defensive pattern is visible on decentralized platforms. Derive.xyz’s 30-day skew has dropped to -5.3% from -2.9%, indicating growing demand for downside insurance.
Dr. Sean Dawson, head of research at Derive.xyz, noted that traders are increasingly targeting the December 26 expiry, with a notable cluster of put positions building around the $80,000 strike.
Dawson added that macro uncertainty is helping drive the shift. Concern over U.S. labor-market resilience and fading expectations of a December rate cut—now only slightly above a 50% probability—have weakened the case for bullish exposure into the final stretch of the year.
Still, some indicators suggest the sell-off may be approaching exhaustion. Sentiment gauges and technical signals are nearing oversold territory.
“The Fear & Greed Index is around 15 and RSI is moving toward 30,” Pequignot noted. “We’re also seeing a meaningful rise in whale wallets holding more than 1,000 BTC, hinting that larger investors may be accumulating at discounted levels.”
Pequignot said that although near-term risks remain skewed to the downside, extreme bearish conditions have historically offered strong opportunities for traders willing to take contrarian positions.
