Gate Research: BTC Implied Volatility at the 88th Percentile of the Past Year; 24H Bullish Call Spread Strategies Dominate Options Flow

Options Market Dynamics

Latest data show BTC implied volatility (IV) holding at elevated levels around 53%, while ETH IV remains high near 69%. BTC IV is currently near the 88th percentile of the past year, indicating that options markets continue to price in heightened expectations for short-term price fluctuations.

Recently, BTC 25-Delta Skew first compressed before sharply dropping on the 23rd–24th, with the 7D skew briefly approaching -18 vol. This move suggests concentrated demand for short-term downside protection and a temporary rise in risk-off sentiment. Skew then rebounded quickly, implying that the spike in hedging demand was more likely driven by short-term event risk rather than a structural repricing of trend risk. Overall, the skew structure remains moderately negative, with put premiums slightly higher, signaling that while the market maintains caution toward downside risks, persistent bearish expectations have not yet formed.

From a Gamma Exposure (GEX) perspective, gamma is currently concentrated around end-February expiries, exerting a short-term dampening effect through hedging flows and contributing to range-bound price action. However, a negative gamma zone appears in mid-March; if prices move toward this region, volatility could be amplified, raising the risk of a regime shift in market structure.

Block Trade Structure

Over the past 24 hours, BTC and ETH options block trades were primarily bullish, dominated by call spread strategies. The largest trades include:

• BTC: Long BTC-27MAR26-90000-C / Short BTC-27MAR26-100000-C, totaling approximately 600 BTC, with a net premium outlay of about $70,000.
• ETH: Long ETH-27MAR26-2500-C, totaling roughly 9,000 ETH, with a net premium paid of around $220,000.

Multi-leg options strategies can be executed using Gate’s combination order tools.

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Options Trading Portal: https://www.gate.com/zh/options/BTC_USDT