A week ago, CoinDesk highlighted a bearish shift in the BTC options market, with the $85,000 put overtaking the $140,000 call as the most popular bet on crypto exchange Deribit.
Now, the $80,000 put has taken the lead, boasting an open interest of just over $2 billion, while the $85,000 put ranks second with $1.97 billion in open interest. Meanwhile, the $140,000 call’s open interest has dropped to $1.56 billion.
The $80,000 put reflects a bet that bitcoin’s spot price will fall below that level. Put buyers are implicitly bearish, while call buyers are bullish.
BTC options: Distribution of open interest. (Deribit)