FalconX: Bitcoin Options Market Has Grown Large Enough to Influence Spot Prices

The Bitcoin (BTC) options market has grown so large and diverse that it is now influencing bitcoin’s spot price, according to a FalconX report.

Open interest in BTC options has surged to nearly $80 billion from $8 billion at the start of the year, reaching levels comparable to the established bitcoin futures market. Options activity, once a secondary signal, now provides critical insight into investor positioning and risk management.

Two key venues are driving the trend: Deribit, offering short-dated, round-the-clock options for crypto-native traders, and BlackRock’s Nasdaq-listed iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which provides longer-dated, call-heavy options favored by institutional investors. Deribit caters to volatility-driven strategies, while IBIT supports long-term hedging, structured products, and yield-enhancing overlays.

Put/call ratios highlight the divergence: Deribit sits near 0.5–0.6, IBIT around 0.3. BTC implied volatility has trended lower due to miner and large-holder activity, while ETH remains steadier, buoyed by staking and DeFi flows.

FalconX concludes that crypto options are now essential tools for traders and risk managers, with Deribit reflecting short-term risk and IBIT signaling institutional positioning.

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