Market Overview
Gate Research reported that Bitcoin fell below $100,000 this week for the first time since June, hitting a low of $99,932 and breaking below its 200-day moving average — marking the second-largest single-day drop of the year. Ethereum also briefly fell below $3,200 during intraday trading, reaching its lowest level since August.
The crash was mainly driven by the dual impact of Powell’s hawkish comments and the risk of government shutdown. The Federal Reserve Chair emphasized that interest rates may "remain higher for longer," dampening expectations for a December rate cut. Meanwhile, the Treasury accelerated replenishment of the Treasury General Account (TGA), further tightening dollar liquidity and weighing on risk assets across the board.
Options Market Dynamics
The latest data shows BTC implied volatility (IV) at 48.11% and ETH IV at 75.56%, both rising significantly from last week — reflects heightened risk aversion and increased volatility expectations.
The gap between near-term and long-term IVs has normalized, suggesting the market’s short-term volatility outlook has turned more neutral. From a skew perspective, both BTC and ETH 25-Delta Skew have turned sharply negative and steepened, indicating investors’ defensive stance against downside risks.
BTC’s realized volatility (RV) rose to around 51, with the volatility risk premium (VRP = IV − RV) hovering near zero, showing that volatility is fairly priced. ETH’s RV climbed to about 77.23, and its VRP, which spiked to 13.26 vol yesterday, has since fallen to 6 vol — suggesting implied volatility is somewhat overpriced amid improving risk sentiment, making short-vol strategies relatively favorable.
Block Trade Structures
In the BTC and ETH options markets this week, large traders have been deploying short-volatility strategies, positioning for mild downside volatility at low cost. Two notable block trades include:
- BTC:
Bought BTC-281125-120000-C and sold BTC-261225-115000-C — a low-cost structure betting on moderate long-term upside while shorting volatility. Total volume: ~1,200 BTC; total premium income: approximately $2.3 million. - ETH:
Sold ETH-281125-2800-P and ETH-281125-4000-C, forming a short strangle to short volatility. Total volume: ~3,500 ETH; total premium income: approximately $440,000.
Platform Updates
Gate App’s options trading feature is now fully launched, supporting USDT-settled options on major assets such as BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, DOGE, TON, ADA, and LTC. It also introduces cross-currency margin and portfolio margin mechanisms, significantly improving trading flexibility and capital efficiency.
Trading Details：https://www.gate.com/options/BTC_USDT
