I just saw a report from VanEck about the Bitcoin options market, and the data is quite interesting. Traders are paying the highest prices for downside protection, with the put/call ratio reaching 0.84—its highest level since June 2021. This means investors are very afraid of a price drop, even though the spot price remains stable around $71.65K.

Interestingly, realized volatility has decreased from 80 to 50, and futures funding rates have also weakened to 2.7%. This indicates leverage speculation is starting to subside. But on the options side, traders have spent about $685 million on put options in the last 30 days, while call premiums have fallen 12% to $562 million. Relative to spot volume, put premiums reach 4 basis points—an all-time high according to VanEck, three times the level during the 2022 Terra/Luna collapse.

Historically, such fear often marks a turning point rather than a new downtrend signal. VanEck found that similar option skews over the past six years have been followed by an average increase of 13% in 90 days and 133% in 360 days. So, an incline suggests a bullish trend could come after this fear period ends. On-chain activity remains weak, and miner sales are controlled, making the setup interesting to watch.