Options
16 articles
The options expiry calendar and why it matters
Monthly and quarterly expiries concentrate gamma and open interest. How the calendar shapes pinning, post-expiry expansion, and where to expect volatility.
DESKRealized volatility regimes and how to trade them
Markets cycle between compression and expansion. How to identify the regime from realized vol, why low vol breeds high vol, and how positioning should adapt.
DESKThe put/call ratio: reading options positioning
The put/call ratio shows whether traders are buying downside or upside. How to read it as sentiment, why extremes are contrarian, and where volume vs OI differ.
DESKOptions skew explained: what it actually prices
Skew is the IV gap between puts and calls — which tail the market pays up for. How crypto's call-skew tendency differs from equities, and how to read shifts.
DESKThe volatility risk premium: why selling vol pays
Implied vol usually trades above realized — sellers get paid for a move that rarely fully arrives. The edge, the regimes, and why it blows up.
DESKImplied volatility: a working guide for crypto desks
IV is the market's price of future movement. How to read it as a percentile, why IV minus RV is the real trade, and what term structure tells you.
DESKDealer gamma explained: the spot feedback loop
Dealer hedging can dampen or amplify spot. Long-gamma pins, short-gamma accelerates. How to read the flip and why it matters into expiry.
DESKBTC vol cone — IV percentile reading at current levels
Current 30-day BTC IV at 58 sits at the 34th percentile of trailing 2-year readings. The vol cone shows the structure clearly.
DESKBTC put/call ratio at multi-month highs — what's priced in
Deribit put/call ratio at 0.84, highest since November 2024. Composition of the puts matters more than the headline.
DESKETH options term structure flattens — dealer positioning ahead of upgrade
Front-month ETH IV at 71. 90-day at 58. Term structure flattening from prior 25+ point spread. Read on positioning ahead of the network upgrade.
DESKVol surface skew — reading the right tail when it matters
Most desks focus on put skew because crashes are louder than rallies. The right tail tells you something different. Here's what.
DESKFriday weekly expiry pin risk — BTC short-dated dynamics
BTC has pinned 80,000 on three of the last four Friday weekly expiries. The gamma profile explains the magnetism, but the pattern won't last forever.
DESKDealer gamma flips: implications for BTC short-dated options
BTC dealer gamma is flipping negative below the $81K strike — which means dealer hedging now amplifies moves rather than damps them.
DESKETH options skew steepens to −8.5 — dealer positioning under stress
ETH 25-delta put-call skew at −8.5, the most bearish since June 2024. Dealers are bid for puts, short calls. This kind of skew rarely persists more than 3-4 weeks.
DESKBVIV vs DVOL divergence — what's actually priced in
BTC's two main implied vol indexes diverged this week. The gap is small but worth tracking — it usually signals positioning shifts before they show up in directional moves.
DESKRVOL vs IV: when the implied is wrong and what to do
BTC realized vol is running 8 points above implied. When this gap persists, options sellers lose money. Reading the gap correctly is more useful than picking a direction.
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