The crypto options market is signaling a higher perceived risk of downside volatility in Ethereum's native token, ether (ETH), compared to bitcoin (BTC), two weeks after Ethereum's Shapella upgrade. Options tied to ether and bitcoin signaled a bias for bearish bets or puts, but the demand for puts in the ether market was stronger than in the bitcoin market, according to crypto derivatives analytics firm Block Scholes. Ether's one-month bearish out-of-the-money puts traded at a five volatility points premium to bullish OTM calls, while bitcoin's OTM puts traded at a three-point premium to calls. The risk reversal skew for ETH has now reversed its post-Shapella recovery relative to BTC options, suggesting a return to the slightly more negative sentiment assigned to ETH throughout this year.

(By Omkar Godbole)