On October 19, 2026, Ethereum options markets displayed a clear downside skew, with short-dated puts trading at an implied volatility premium of up to 8 percentage points over calls. The 1-week 25-delta skew stood at +7.4 vol points, signaling that traders are prioritizing downside protection over upside exposure. ETH fell roughly 8% over the past month while Bitcoin gained 1.5%, a performance gap partly driven by cautious sentiment weighing on tech equities. Open interest remains call-heavy at 63%, with a put wall at $2,300 and a call wall at $2,600, as spot trading hovers around $2,400.
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