Bitcoin (BTC) traders are hedging against a potential market drop, with a massive options bet targeting a $60,000 price level for the flagship cryptocurrency.
The block trade represents one of the largest bearish bets in recent weeks, suggesting deep pessimism about Bitcoin’s short-term prospects against a backdrop of looming macroeconomic uncertainties.
Massive Put Option Signals Bearish Sentiment
According to options trade analysts Greek.live, an investor bought Bitcoin puts expiring on April 25, with a strike price of $60,000. The transaction involved more than 1,000 BTC and has a notional value of almost $100 million. In the analysts’ opinion, the motive behind the move could either be extreme risk hedging or highly leveraged speculation.
They warn against dismissing the bearish signals, reporting that negative sentiment is dominating trading flows, with increased demand for put options that profit from a drop in Bitcoin’s price. For instance, for the said $100 million bet to be successful, BTC has to lose at least 30% of its current value, which would translate to a drop of about $25,000.
Traders are paying hefty premiums to protect themselves from such downsides, indicating a cautious outlook among their ranks brought about by the uncertainty surrounding BTC’s near-term outlook.
The pessimism is also reflected in price projections over these short periods, with analysts like Michaël van de Poppe noting a key resistance level between $82,000 and $87,000. “Above $87K is the real acceleration and likely run towards a new ATH,” he tweeted. “Sub $82K is a test of the lows,” he added.
Despite the turbulence, long-term BTC investors are remaining steadfast. According to findings by on-chain analytics platform Glassnode, holders who accumulated the number one cryptocurrency between 2020 and 2022 have largely resisted the urge to sell, even when the asset’s price briefly topped $108,000 earlier in the year.
It is a different case with short-term traders. Many of them have been quick to panic, with episodes of capitulation occurring during the last few dips when they sold their holdings at a loss.
Rocky Price Performance
Looking at the market, Bitcoin has managed a modest 0.8% gain in the last 24 hours. Trading at $84,635 at the time of writing, the asset oscillated between $82,649 and $85,438, with the current price being a 28.9% improvement across the previous 30 days.
However, BTC is down slightly more than 3% over the past week and is almost 22% below its all-time high price. The first quarter of 2025 was one to forget, with the 12% dip registered in that period marking its worst start to a year since 2018.
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