Bitcoin Slides Below $68,000 in Broad Crypto Selloff; FBTC Options Skew More Defensive Than IBIT

Bitcoin traded at $67,285 by midday Tuesday, down 5.8% over 24 hours and printing a session range north of 5%, as a coordinated selloff dragged ether, solana and XRP lower in sympathy. Options positioning across spot bitcoin ETFs is splitting: Fidelity's FBTC shows a put-heavy 0.54 P/C open interest with a $40 put wall, while BlackRock's IBIT sits at a more balanced 0.72 — a divergence that points to issuer-specific hedging rather than uniform downside conviction.

Market Pulse

Bitcoin changed hands at $67,285 at midday, down -5.8% ↓ on the session with an intraday range of 5.56%. Ether traded at $1,913.76 (-4.6% ↓), solana at $76.33 (-6.1% ↓) and XRP at $1.2218 (-5.8% ↓). Despite the drawdown, Binance perpetual funding remains positive for BTC (+0.0083% per 8h, ~9.1% annualized) and ETH (+0.0057%), while SOL and XRP funding has tipped negative. The split suggests bitcoin and ether longs are sitting through the move rather than capitulating.

Options Positioning

The most striking signal in today's chain is the gap between issuer books. FBTC prints a put-heavy 0.54 P/C open interest with the $40 strike anchoring 16,777 puts — the single largest position in the chain — and IV30d at 36.9%. IBIT, by contrast, holds a more balanced 0.72 P/C OI, with call concentration at the $50 (83,557 OI), $70 and $55 strikes against a $35 put wall. Both names carry similar implied vol around 37%, so the divergence sits in positioning, not pricing.

On the ether side, ETHA ran a put-heavy 1.76 P/C volume intraday against a 0.78 OI ratio, with IV30d at 48.2% — consistent with same-day defensive hedging on top of a more balanced longer-dated book. BSOL shows symmetric call/put OI at the $10 strike, capturing the indecision around solana's break of that handle.

Narrative

The tape took its cue from Decrypt's read that bitcoin traders have flipped bearish as BTC prints its lowest level in months, with the $68,000 break amplifying the move. Cutting the other way: Strive disclosed an additional 2,500 BTC purchase, lifting holdings to 19,000 BTC as its $4.2 billion funding plan advances — a bid that points to corporate-treasury accumulation continuing through the drawdown. Robinhood's acquisition of Canada's largest crypto platform adds 300,000 customers and broadens the North American retail rail, though the news has not visibly moved spot.

Afternoon Watch

Whether BTC reclaims the $68,000 handle into the cash close, or settles below — a sustained close beneath has historically been associated with follow-through hedging demand in ETF options chains.
The 16:00 UTC funding print across BTC and ETH perps: positive funding holding through a 5%+ drawdown would be consistent with patient long positioning rather than forced unwinds.
Tomorrow morning's settled ETF flow tape for Tuesday's session, which will show whether issuer redemptions accompanied the selloff or whether the move was futures-led.