Gate Research: BTC Holds Steady with a Strong Bias Amid Wartime, Volatility Remains High

Options Market Update

Recent data indicates that BTC implied volatility (IV) remains high at 55%, while ETH IV is sustained at 74%. BTC IV is currently near the 91st percentile of the past year, reflecting the options market's sustained expectation for significant short-term price swings.

Over the past week, the BTC 25-Delta Skew initially widened before narrowing, with the 7-day skew dropping to around -15 vol at one point, signaling a temporary surge in short-term put demand. It then quickly rebounded to about -5 vol. The 30- to 90-day skew has largely held between -4 and -6 vol, maintaining a moderately negative structure. This indicates the market retains a need for downside hedging, but there’s no evidence of persistent bearish pricing.

According to GEX distribution, the main peak is centered on March 27 and shows a pronounced positive Gamma, meaning market makers are broadly in a positive Gamma environment. This environment makes prices more likely to be contained by hedging activity, favoring a range-bound market. In negative Gamma regions, such as around March 13, volatility can intensify and trend formation is more likely.

Block Trade Structure

In the past 24 hours, the largest block trades in the BTC and ETH options markets are as follows:

• BTC: Bought BTC-27MAR26-125000-C, with approximately 1,500 BTC traded and a net premium outlay of about $100,000.

• ETH: Bought ETH-13MAR26-1950-P, with approximately 10,000 ETH traded and a net premium outlay of about $800,000.

Options combination strategies can be executed using Gate’s combo order strategy tool.

Platform Update

Gate has comprehensively upgraded its options VIP fee structure, covering all option types and delivering meaningful fee reductions for all users—from beginners to professionals. VIP0 users benefit from lower fees with no asset or trading volume requirements, gaining a cost advantage from the outset. Users can advance to lower fee tiers with asset levels in the tens of thousands and trading volumes in the millions, far below the billion-dollar trading or high asset thresholds common on mainstream platforms. Professional and institutional users at VIP10+ enjoy ultra-low fees of 0% Maker and 0.015% Taker, enabling full-scale cost optimization.

Options trading access: https://www.gate.com/zh/options/BTC\_USDT