Ethereum Options Market Sees Rising Put Demand Against Price Declines; Bitcoin Shows Relative Strength

Demand to hedge against price declines is rising quickly in the Ethereum options market, while Bitcoin is showing relative resilience by holding in an $80,000 to $84,000 range even as risk assets weaken more broadly.

Crypto Briefing reported on October 19, citing Block Scholes data, that implied volatility on seven-day Ethereum put options traded as much as 8 percentage points above call options over the weekend. Because put options are typically used to guard against price drops, the gap suggests investors are becoming more cautious about downside risk.

Implied volatility on seven-day Ethereum options has also risen by about 10 percentage points recently. Over the same period, Bitcoin's implied volatility climbed to 33% from below 30% last Friday.

The difference is also evident in price moves. Ethereum has fallen about 8% over the past 30 days, while Bitcoin has risen 1.5%.

Thahbib Rahman, a research analyst at Block Scholes, said demand for short-dated put options has strengthened in both Bitcoin and Ethereum since early this month. Hedging against downside risk has been more pronounced in Ethereum.

Risk aversion has also spread in U.S. equities as concerns mount over artificial intelligence investment. Semiconductor stocks have fallen about 20% over the past two weeks, and the Nasdaq 100 posted its worst weekly performance since the tariff shock in April last year.

"Investor anxiety is showing up clearly," Rahman said. He added that it will be important to watch whether unease in the stock market develops into outright panic selling.