Bitcoin Options Block Trades Hit $590 Million After Binance Incident

Bitcoin (BTC) options block trades on Paradigm totaled about $590 million in the eight hours after the Binance incident, with activity concentrated in puts.

That total was roughly half of the related block-trade volume on Deribit over the same period. The put activity was more consistent with hedging against further short-term downside than betting on an extreme crash.

Put buying overall clustered at strikes from $74,000 to $78,000, with expirations mostly this week and in mid-November. Two mid-November puts at a $74,000 strike each covered 1,000 BTC, for a combined notional value of about $155 million.

The first large trade came at 4:38 p.m. ET (20:38 UTC), before the incident became public. It was a purchase of puts covering 250 BTC at a $78,000 strike, expiring Oct. 31, with a notional value of about $20 million. Three minutes later, a purchase of the same size and contract cost about 35% more.

March-dated call options also traded, extending activity beyond near-term puts.