Ether Options Retain Steeper Downside Skew Than Bitcoin as Put-Call IV Spreads Narrow

Ether (ETH) options showed a wider put-minus-call implied-volatility spread than Bitcoin (BTC) options in Monday’s latest readings, though both measures narrowed over the prior 24 hours.

At 12:18 p.m. ET (16:18 UTC) Oct. 19, Ether options expiring Oct. 21 had an 8.24-percentage-point spread between 25-delta puts and comparable calls, down from 11.27 points 24 hours earlier. Bitcoin’s corresponding spread was 2.67 points at 11:58 a.m. ET (15:58 UTC), compared with 6.18 points a day earlier. The two latest readings were 20 minutes apart.

A 25-delta comparison looks at options with similar sensitivity to price changes. A put gives its holder the right to sell an asset, while a call gives the right to buy. A positive spread means puts had higher implied volatility than comparable calls. It describes relative options pricing at the time of measurement, not the asset’s future price direction.

Ether’s reading remained higher than Bitcoin’s, indicating a more pronounced relative premium for put-side protection. The Bitcoin figure follows an earlier shift toward put-side pricing in Bitcoin options.

Bitcoin fell to $80,000 before recovering above $82,000 during Asian trading Monday. In a separate seven-day comparison, Bitcoin was down roughly 1.8%, versus about 4.0% for the broader altcoin market. The Nasdaq-100 fell 5.5% in the U.S. trading week ended Oct. 16.