The post Bitcoin Options Market Hits Highest Defensive Levels Since 2021, VanEck Report Shows appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

TLDR: Bitcoin put/call open interest ratio averaged 0.77, its highest reading since China banned mining in June 2021.  Put premiums relative to BTC spot volume hit an all-time high of 4 basis points, tripling mid-2022 levels. Historical data shows D9 skew decile has produced average 90-day BTC returns of +13.2%, the strongest of all deciles. Aggregate miner BTC balances sit at 684,000 BTC, with miners selling nearly all newly issued supply over the past year. Bitcoin markets entered a consolidation phase following a sharp price drawdown in early 2026. VanEck’s mid-March Bitcoin ChainCheck report reveals deeply defensive positioning across derivatives markets. The put/call open interest ratio reached its highest level since June 2021. Realized volatility dropped from 80 to 50, while futures funding rates fell to 2.7%. Onchain activity declined broadly as miner revenues came under pressure. Bitcoin Options Positioning Reflects Elevated Demand for Downside Protection Bitcoin options markets are showing an unusual level of caution among investors. The put/call open interest ratio peaked at 0.84 and averaged 0.77 over the past month. This places the metric in the 91st percentile of all observations recorded since mid-2019. The last time the ratio reached these levels was June 2021, when China banned Bitcoin mining. Total put premiums over the past 30 days reached approximately $685 million. That figure represents a 24% decline month-over-month, yet it still exceeds 77% of monthly readings since early 2025. Relative to spot volume, put premiums hit an all-time high of roughly 4 basis points. This is about three times the levels seen after the Terra/Luna collapse in mid-2022. Meanwhile, call option premiums fell roughly 12% to around $562 million. This decline further confirms a broad shift toward protective positioning in the market. Total options open interest still rose 3% month-over-month to $33.4 billion. Futures leverage, however,…

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Filed under: News - @ March 22, 2026 5:55 am