Panic has crept back into the crypto market, as bitcoin continues its decline to $62,000, spurring demand for options bets that protect against potential price losses below $50,000.
In the past 24 hours, the $50,000 strike put expiring on June 26 is the most traded bet on Deribit, the world's largest crypto options exchange by volume. A put option offers insurance against price losses in the underlying asset.
This shows that even as bitcoin hovers well above the strike, suggesting traders are either positioning for a significant correction or securing cheap insurance against tail-risk events in the coming weeks.
The rest of the leaderboard reinforced a distinctly bearish tilt. Two other puts at strikes of $65,000 and $55,000 also saw notable volume. The only call to crack the top five was the $80,000.
The overwhelming presence of put volume across multiple lower strikes indicates that a notable portion of options flow is betting on, or hedging against, bitcoin failing to sustain its current levels.
