Bitcoin options traders are increasing downside protection, with the 25-delta skew rising from 5.2% to 8.6% in one week, while funding payments on perpetual futures long positions surged 49.4% to $1.6 million. Options open interest reached $38.6 billion and spot cumulative volume delta deteriorated 24.7% to -$83.6 million, indicating that sell orders dominated aggressive buying on covered centralized exchanges. Bitcoin futures open interest remains substantial at $36.4 billion, while the cryptocurrency trades near the critical $80,000 support, down more than 2% over the past week. The short-term to long-term holder supply ratio moved above its historical upper band at 14.7%, reflecting a growing share of price-sensitive capital held by newer investors. A break below $80,000 could force leveraged positions to close, intensifying selling pressure as options traders already pay a higher relative premium for downside protection.
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