Bitcoin: Traders bet on sub-$100K correction
Bitcoin has seen the more pronounced bearish tilt among the two leading crypto assets. According to Derive's Head of Research Dr. Sean Dawson, open interest in BTC puts for the August 29 expiry is nearly five times higher than call interest. Strikingly, almost half of this activity is concentrated at the $95,000 strike, while additional clusters form at the $80,000 and $100,000 levels.
This positioning signals traders are heavily hedging against, or outright betting on, a decline below the psychologically significant $100,000 mark. As of August 6, BTC was trading around $114,075, having dropped more than 3% over the past week.
Supporting this bearish sentiment is the recent move in 30-day skew, a metric that gauges relative demand for puts versus calls. For BTC, skew has slipped from +2% to -2% over the past month, reflecting increased demand for downside protection.
Ether: Pullback fears but potential upside remains
While not as extreme as Bitcoin, Ether options also reflect a bearish lean. Derive data shows that put interest for ETH exceeds call interest by just over 10% for the same August 29 expiry. The highest concentration of puts is at the $3,200, $3,000, and $2,200 strikes, aligning with trader expectations for anything from a moderate retracement to a sharper correction.