Ether Options Show Bias for Weakness Over 3 Months

Crypto investors are now betting that Ethereum's native token, ether (ETH), will drop in value over the next three months.

That's the message from the call-put skew, an options-market measure that reveals what traders are willing to pay to hedge or acquire an asymmetric payout from bullish or bearish price moves.

The three-month ETH call-put skew flipped negative early today for the first time since January, indicating a bias for put options expiring in 90 days, according to data source Amberdata and crypto exchange Deribit. Puts offer protection to the buyer against price slides, while calls do the opposite.

ETH's 60-day skew fell to -3%, the lowest since October, following the seven-day and 30-day gauges lower.

Sentiment in the bitcoin market, however, remains relatively bullish. The 60-, 90- and 180-day BTC calls remain more expensive than puts. Ether's 180-day skew also shows a slight bullish bias.

The relative bearish pricing in the ether options market is consistent with the recent death cross pattern in the ether-bitcoin ratio, which signaled protracted ether underperformance.