Bitcoin Options Remain Call-Heavy as Surge in Put Buying Signals Hedging Demand

Bitcoin (BTC) options positioning remained broadly ‘call-heavy’ on Wednesday, but the latest flow data point to a growing appetite for downside protection as traders increasingly tapped short-dated put contracts.

As of Wednesday 1:00 a.m. ET, Bitcoin options open interest (OI) stood at about $44.05 billion, according to CoinGlass—up roughly 0.07% from the prior day’s $44.02 billion. Calls accounted for 58.27% of total OI, while puts made up 41.73%, underscoring that the market’s outstanding positions are still tilted toward bullish exposure even as hedging demand rises at the margin.

Notional options trading volume over the past 24 hours totaled approximately $3.53 billion. Deribit led activity with about $1.95 billion, followed by Bybit at $543 million, Binance at $493 million, OKX at $326 million, and CME at $43 million. Despite the call dominance in outstanding positions, the day’s turnover was close to balanced: calls represented 51.54% of 24-hour volume and puts 48.46%.

That divergence—calls dominating accumulated positioning while puts gain share in fresh trading—often reflects a market that remains constructive over the medium term but is increasingly attentive to near-term volatility. In practice, traders may keep longer-dated upside structures in place while layering ‘defensive’ put exposure to guard against drawdowns or sharp intraday moves.

On Deribit’s March 27 expiries, the largest concentrations of open interest were clustered around the $125,000 call, the $75,000 call, and the $20,000 put. However, the most actively traded contracts over the past 24 hours were decisively skewed to the downside, led by the $70,000 put, followed by the $68,000 put and the $55,000 put—also for March 27 on Deribit.

Market observers typically read rising OI as a signal of ‘new positioning’ rather than mere churn, suggesting participants are adding exposure rather than simply rotating existing bets. At the same time, the emergence of heavy volume in lower strikes—particularly around $70,000—indicates traders are actively pricing the risk of a pullback or seeking convex hedges, even if the broader options book continues to lean bullish.

For now, the data paint a nuanced picture: a market still structured around upside participation, but with a noticeable increase in near-term put activity that points to heightened sensitivity to downside moves and volatility around upcoming expiries.