Put Option Sales Signal Long-Term Accumulation Intent Among Bitcoin Traders

Bitcoin Bulls Sell Puts with Stablecoins in Strategic Bid to Accumulate BTC

As Bitcoin pushes past $92,000 after a volatile start to April, a growing number of traders are showing their confidence not through aggressive buying, but by selling insurance on BTC’s price.

On Deribit, the world’s largest crypto options exchange, traders are increasingly selling cash-secured put options—backed by stablecoins—as a calculated way to earn yield and potentially buy bitcoin on a dip. It’s a strategy that resembles writing insurance policies: traders collect a premium upfront in exchange for agreeing to buy BTC if it drops below a set price.

“It’s a sign of market maturity,” said Lin Chen, Asia Business Development Head at Deribit. “More participants are willing to commit capital in a structured, long-term way. It reflects continued bullish sentiment.”

These put sellers aren’t going in blind—they’re fully collateralizing their positions with stablecoins, ready to buy BTC if the market turns. In essence, they’re saying: “I’ll buy BTC, but only if it gets cheaper—and I’ll earn income while I wait.”

The strategy has gained momentum alongside another premium-generating move: BTC holders selling call options at higher strikes. This has helped suppress implied volatility, as seen in Deribit’s DVOL index, which has dropped from 63 to 48 since the sharp April 7 correction that briefly sent BTC down to $75K.

Since then, BTC has not only recovered—it’s rallied. Renewed interest from institutions, coupled with macro uncertainty, has sent the price soaring and reignited call option buying across platforms.

On Paradigm, an institutional OTC trading desk, traders have piled into bullish calls at $95K, $100K, and $135K. The $100K strike is now the most active call option on Deribit, with over $1.6 billion in open interest.

Options Delta Swells to $9 Billion, Amplifying Market Sensitivity

Behind the scenes, the options market is playing a major role in BTC’s recent dynamics. Data from Volmex shows the cumulative delta of BTC options across Deribit and U.S.-listed ETF-linked contracts (such as BlackRock’s IBIT) has reached a staggering $9 billion.

Delta measures how much an option’s value moves with changes in the underlying asset’s price. When delta exposure is high, it means that options traders—and more importantly, market makers—must continuously adjust their positions to stay hedged. These adjustments can drive volatility and accelerate price swings.

With $43 billion in total notional value outstanding, bitcoin’s options market is no longer a sideshow—it’s a primary force.

“Option market makers are now managing unprecedented delta exposure,” Volmex said in a post on X. “This is being driven by a surge in open interest and aggressive repositioning across strike prices.”

Interestingly, sentiment isn’t uniform. While Deribit traders appear broadly bullish, Volmex notes that those trading ETF-linked options like IBIT are more cautious, highlighting a divide between crypto-native players and traditional finance participants.