options

glassnode released analysis data on platform X showing that Bitcoin has recently consolidated in the range of $65,000 to $73,000, but the options market has revealed defensive characteristics. The open interest (OI) of BTC options has rebounded from 255,000 BTC on December 26 to 452,000 BTC, approaching the high at the end of Q4 2025; the 1-month and 3-month implied volatility has increased by about 10 volatility points, indicating that traders expect significant price fluctuations in the future. The skew of put options has risen from 6% to 18% within a month, highlighting the market's willingness to pay for downside protection.However, the current market liquidity structure is tending towards balance. Since Bitcoin fell from $82,000, bearish buying has dominated; the increase in bullish activity over the past two days has brought the put/call ratio back to 0.7, stabilizing short-term positions, but the short-end implied volatility is below the actual volatility.

According to Jinshi reports, the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index (VIX) is close to a weekly high, having recently risen by 2.48 points to 20.05 points.

According to Deribit data, at 16:00 tomorrow, the options expiration will take place, including:BTC options nominal value of 2.52 billion USD, put/call ratio of 0.76, maximum pain point of 75,000 USD;ETH options nominal value of 390 million USD, put/call ratio of 0.93, maximum pain point of 2,200 USD.

The on-chain options market has seen a historic surge in trading volume over the past two weeks, recording $44 million in the first week of February and $28 million in the last week of January. Currently, over 80% of the trading volume is concentrated in the two major protocols, Ithaca and Derive, which processed $26 million and $11 million in transaction volume last week, respectively, while the third place, Overtime, only recorded $2 million.There is no consensus in the market regarding the reasons for the surge in trading volume. Possible factors include the annualized yield on USDT lending on Aave dropping to about 2%, reducing its attractiveness; and market expectations for the upcoming launch of the HIP-4 market on Hyperliquid. Notable DeFi trader Route 2 Fi recently posted on the X platform, stating that the 2% annualized yield on USDT on Aave has lost its appeal, sparking widespread discussion in the community and reflecting that some users are actively seeking alternative investment channels for higher returns.

Bybit x SignalPlus New Year Trading Carnival enters its final week, with a prize pool of 100,000 USDT, cheering on traders in the current tense market atmosphere.Users can participate solo or form teams, with opportunities to unlock rewards daily.Competition Period: January 26, 2026, 8:00 (UTC) - February 16, 2026, 8:00 (UTC)Daily Individual Lucky Draw: Participate in trading, with a chance to win up to 350 USDT daily.Daily Team Lucky Draw: Compete in teams for major benefits like a trip to Thailand for the New Year.Weekly Team Leaderboard: The top 3 teams each week will share 900 USDT.Fee Subsidy: Trade options for a chance to win up to 500 USDT in fee rebates.Recharge and Trade for a Chance to Win Hermès Prizes: Recharge and trade options to receive Hermès gifts weekly.

Greeks live stated that approximately 33,000 BTC options are set to expire, with a Put Call Ratio of 0.54, a maximum pain point of $80,000, and a notional value of about $2.1 billion; 219,000 ETH options are set to expire, with a Put Call Ratio of 0.91, a maximum pain point of $2,400, and a notional value of $420 million. Greeks live mentioned that today, options representing 10% of the total open interest are expiring, totaling nearly $2.6 billion.The sharp downward trend in Bitcoin and Ethereum prices continues, with put options holding a dominant position, and the fear index dropping as low as 5%, as panic once again envelops the crypto market. From the main options data, the implied volatility for BTC and ETH has significantly increased, with BTC's major term IV exceeding 60%, and several short-term at-the-money IVs exceeding 110%. ETH's major term IV is at 80%, with several short-term at-the-money IVs exceeding 120%, all at their highest levels in over a year.

DeFi Dev Corp Chief Investment Officer and Chief Operating Officer Parker White stated on social media, "Yesterday, BlackRock's IBIT trading volume reached $10.7 billion, nearly double the previous highest daily volume, with an options premium of about $900 million, both setting historical records. BTC and SOL fell in tandem, and with lower CeFi liquidations, there are suspicions that this volatility stems from large IBIT holders, possibly one or more non-crypto hedge funds based in Hong Kong.Data shows that some funds have extremely high positions in IBIT, even as single-asset funds, aimed at isolating margin risk. Silver plummeted today, and yen arbitrage trades accelerated liquidation, intensifying market pressure and further affecting fund leverage positions. These funds may be attempting to turn the tide through high-leverage options trading, but losses continue to expand, and ultimately, the decline in Bitcoin may completely crush their positions. Due to the lag in 13F report disclosures, relevant position information is expected to be available by mid-May, but the scale of the event is enormous and difficult to hide in the long term."

The digital asset platform Bullish, listed on the US stock market, has released its latest financial report, disclosing that the digital asset sales for the fiscal year 2025 are $244.8 billion, compared to $250.2 billion in the same period last year. In addition, the digital asset sales for the fourth quarter were $64.3 billion, down from $66 billion in the same period last year. Furthermore, the trading volume of Bitcoin options in the fourth quarter of 2025 exceeded $9 billion, with an open interest of $4 billion, making it the second-largest exchange by open interest in Bitcoin options.

According to The Block, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) is in early discussions with retail brokers and market makers to relaunch binary options contracts, aiming to compete with the rapidly growing prediction markets.Kalshi and Polymarket reached a trading volume of $17 billion in January, setting a monthly historical record. Cboe originally launched this product in 2008 but subsequently delisted it, and is now seeking to reposition the product as a gateway for retail investors into the options market through compliant design. The plan will be regulated by the SEC or CFTC.

According to CoinDesk, data from the Deribit options trading platform shows that the dollar value of a $75,000 Bitcoin put option contract has now reached $1.159 billion, nearly on par with the nominal open interest of $1.168 billion for a $100,000 call option.However, there are also a significant number of open contracts for put options with strike prices of $70,000, $80,000, and $85,000, while call options with higher strike prices (except for the $100,000 call option) lack similar trading activity.

ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood responded to investors' concerns about "confusion in investment direction after the gold pullback," stating, "Contrary to the current mainstream view, I believe that Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and HYPE may serve as good diversification options. Since the beginning of 2020, the correlation between Bitcoin and gold prices has been very low, at only 0.14. In the last two Bitcoin bull markets, gold has led the rise of Bitcoin."

As the funds from the spot Bitcoin ETF continue to flow out, the Bitcoin options market is showing clear bearish signals, and the market's expectation of BTC breaking below $80,000 has increased.In the derivatives market, the Bitcoin options delta skew indicator once rose to 17%, reaching a more than one-year high, significantly higher than the typical level of no more than 6% in a neutral market, reflecting extreme risk-averse sentiment. Additionally, the total open interest in Bitcoin futures has dropped to $46 billion, a significant decrease from the $58 billion high three months ago, indicating that excessive leverage is being gradually cleared. Overall, the sentiment in the Bitcoin derivatives market is cautious, and analysts believe that whether Bitcoin can regain a position above $87,000 may depend on whether market risk appetite can recover after a reduction in macroeconomic uncertainty.

According to on-chain analysts, a certain whale previously bought 3,000 expiring call options for BTC with a strike price of $100,000, paying a total premium of $2.86 million. Another whale bought 1,300 expiring call options for BTC with a strike price of $100,000, as well as 2,400 expiring call options for BTC with a strike price of $98,000, totaling a premium payment of $10.22 million.This afternoon at four o'clock marks the first monthly expiration date after the annual settlement. If these two large holders do not close their positions early, they will incur a loss of $8.2 million in premiums.

According to data from Greeks.live, 91,000 BTC options will expire today, with a Put Call Ratio of 0.48, a maximum pain point of $90,000, and a notional value of $7.6 billion. 435,000 ETH options will expire today, with a Put Call Ratio of 0.68, a maximum pain point of $3,000, and a notional value of $1.19 billion.

According to market news, over 9.5 billion dollars in cryptocurrency options will expire at Beijing time. Among them, the notional value of Bitcoin options reaches 8.27 billion dollars, with a Put/Call ratio of 0.54 and a maximum pain price of 90,000 dollars; the notional value of Ethereum options is 1.27 billion dollars, with a Put/Call ratio of 0.74 and a maximum pain price of 3,100 dollars.Currently, the Bitcoin price is hovering around 90,000 dollars, with an increased demand for downside protection in the market, indicating a cautious attitude among traders, but overall positions still lean towards bullish. Previous reports suggested that cryptocurrency options trading activities have kept the Bitcoin price suppressed around 90,000 dollars.

According to Cointelegraph, the cryptocurrency options exchange Deribit pointed out that Bitcoin's recent price has been suppressed around $90,000, mainly due to a large number of open interest concentrated near the current strike price, especially ahead of the massive expiration date on January 30. This means that market risk exposure is primarily constructed through options rather than high-leverage futures, with traders using hedging and structured strategies to manage risk.Deribit analysis indicates that high options trading volume (especially short-term put options) suggests that capital is still in the market, but risk control is stricter, with short-term price behavior being driven more by position structure rather than external news. Bitcoin has been oscillating in the range of $85,000 to $95,000 since mid-November. This Friday will see the expiration of Bitcoin monthly options with a notional value of about $8.4 billion, with a put/call ratio of 0.54, and the maximum pain point located at $90,000, while open interest is most concentrated around the $100,000 strike price.

According to Jinshi reports, after U.S. President Trump commented on the weakness of the dollar, dollar options traders showed overwhelming bearish sentiment.

QCP published a daily market analysis stating, "Bitcoin has rebounded above the key level of $88,000. Recently, a drop below this level often triggers a rapid downward move dominated by liquidations; however, if it can quickly recover, it will pull the price back into the consolidation range. Next, the market will face a series of intense U.S. macro events: the FOMC interest rate decision; the government funding deadline, which keeps the risk of a shutdown alive; and the Senate rescheduling discussions on cryptocurrency market structure legislation. The options market clearly reflects this asymmetry. Overall volatility remains controlled, and the term structure maintains a positive spread, so the baseline scenario remains consolidation rather than a crash.In terms of fiscal risk, the key issue is whether Washington can successfully resolve the funding issue. If a temporary solution can be passed in time, short-term risk premiums are expected to compress, and crypto assets will resemble pure Beta trades; if there is a brief misstep, the market may initially fluctuate but will rebound after an agreement is reached; if the deadlock continues, it could tighten liquidity and force the market to undergo broader de-risking. A closer key point is the Federal Reserve. The baseline expectation remains unchanged interest rates, with market focus on when rate cuts will resume. Inflation is still above 2%, while employment is starting to weaken, causing the committee to remain cautious and data-dependent.Against the backdrop of concerns about the independence of the Federal Reserve, it is expected to emphasize its independence and reiterate the statement of "waiting for more data"; if there is a hawkish pause, it may trigger a rebound in the dollar and lead to short-term volatility in risk assets."

According to CoinDesk, the prices of bearish options for BTC and ETH on Deribit remain generally higher than those of bullish options, indicating that the market's concerns about downside risks persist.Analysts believe that downside protection has become a crowded trade, making bullish options relatively cheap for investors with a bullish outlook. From a directional positioning perspective, bearish strategies such as put spreads, volatility bets, and straddles and strangles accounted for nearly 50% of all large options trades in Bitcoin over the past 24 hours. In the case of Ethereum, traders prefer the "iron condor" strategy to profit from potential range-bound market conditions.Meanwhile, Volmex's 30-day implied volatility index for Bitcoin and Ethereum remains at multi-month lows, suggesting that despite the bearish capital flows and technical patterns, there is no clear panic or fear sentiment in the market.