How Bitcoin Options Traders Are Positioning After The Crash

Aggregate open interest shows roughly 228,000 call contracts outstanding versus 177,000 put contracts, producing a put/call ratio near 0.78. Taken in isolation, this would suggest an upside-leaning market. 

However, raw contract counts obscure where risk is actually concentrated. A clearer picture emerges once positioning is examined by moneyness and expiry, rather than aggregate totals.

Downside concentration

With Bitcoin trading around $69,000, open interest at strikes below spot is dominated by puts. At the $60,000 strike, put open interest totals 15,528 contracts, compared with just 546 calls. At $65,000, puts stand at 14,867 contracts versus 1,389 calls. 

These strikes sit well below spot, indicating that positioning is concentrated around downside levels rather than upside participation. The implications of this concentration become clearer when exposure is evaluated by in-the-money versus out-of-the-money notional.

Across all major expiries, downside sensitivity is overwhelmingly concentrated in puts. 

In the 13 Feb 2026 expiry, 53.6% of put notional is in the money, compared with just 4.9% of call notional. The 27 Feb 2026 expiry shows a nearly identical split, while the largest expiry, 27 Mar 2026, is even more skewed: approximately 59.9% of put notional is in the money versus 2.3% for calls. 

This pattern persists across later expiries through December 2026. In most cases, 95–99% of call notional remains out of the money, while roughly half or more of put notional sits in the money.

Far out-of-the-money calls provide convex upside exposure but contribute relatively little directional sensitivity near current prices. By contrast, in-the-money puts cluster effective risk close to spot, increasing the market’s sensitivity to downside moves even if those puts are held primarily as protection.

Playing defence

Recent trading activity supports this defensive interpretation. Over the past week, calls sold accounted for 24.0% of activity, exceeding calls bought at 22.6%. At the same time, puts bought represented 27.6% of trades, compared with 25.7% for puts sold. 

While weekly flows are short-lived relative to outstanding open interest, this pattern indicates ongoing demand for downside protection rather than aggressive upside positioning.

Trade structure further reinforces this view. A high share of activity has taken place through put spreads, call spreads, and calendar spreads, with relatively limited use of outright options. This preference for defined-risk structures suggests risk management and hedging behaviour, rather than leveraged directional conviction.

Taken together, Bitcoin’s options market appears 'downside-aware' rather than overtly bearish. Effective risk is clustered in in-the-money puts near current price levels. Upside exposure exists, but primarily as optional convexity rather than conviction.

The overall picture is a market focused on protecting current levels while retaining upside participation, consistent with caution rather than complacency, and positioning for sustained upside continuation.