Ethereum options traders show clearer bullish positioning than those in Bitcoin, reflected in lower put-call ratios and a milder downside skew in early December 2025. Key derivatives metrics signal that traders currently favor long exposure in Ether over Bitcoin as capital and product flows accelerate.
Ethereum Options Show Stronger Bullish Bias Than Bitcoin
These signals indicate that traders are favoring upside exposure in Ether as activity concentrates around calls, funding turns positive, and institutional flows pick up. The comparison to Bitcoin underscores a more defensive balance in BTC while ETH positioning leans more directionally bullish.
The put-call ratio (PCR), which compares traded puts to calls and serves as a near-term sentiment gauge, registered 0.78 for ETH on December 5, 2025, across more than 210,000 options contracts, indicating heavier call-side activity. Bitcoin’s PCR was 0.91 on the same date, suggesting a more defensive balance between hedges and directional bets. The 90‑day skew stood at −1.7% for Ether and −4% for Bitcoin, reflecting lower demand for downside protection in ETH options.
Derivatives flow also highlights concentrated bullish bets as high-strike call open interest has picked up for ETH, with $6,500 calls leading open interest on a major options venue. Funding rates in Ether derivatives have turned positive, showing that longs are paying shorts to maintain positions. These signals collectively point to stronger conviction among traders seeking upside exposure rather than protective hedging.
“Noticeably more bullish,” said Sean Dawson, head of research at an on‑chain options platform, summing up the relative skew and positioning between the two markets. The options market tone reflects a clear preference for Ether over Bitcoin among derivatives traders.
Speculative capital is rotating toward Ether with measurable velocity. Since late November 2025, ETH’s futures-to-spot ratio has accelerated faster than Bitcoin’s, implying a larger share of leveraged speculative activity in ETH. On institutional venues, CME Ether futures open interest reached about $2.8 billion in early December 2025 and traded at roughly a 20% basis, underscoring sizable participation in directional ETH bets.
This movement is consistent with traders seeking volatility where Bitcoin’s implied volatility has compressed. The narrowing of Bitcoin volatility has made ETH options comparatively more attractive to traders targeting risk‑adjusted returns. A crypto research platform also reports that its proprietary Risk‑Appetite Index for Ethereum “appears to be bottoming,” a pattern historically associated with sentiment shifts and rising directional flows.
Several catalysts underpin the positioning differential. The Fusaka upgrade activated on December 3, 2025, introduced native passkey support and an eight‑fold increase in blob capacity, aimed at improving Layer‑2 efficiency and reducing transaction costs. Macroeconomic discussion around potential Federal Reserve rate cuts has softened the macro risk premium and encouraged greater allocation to higher‑beta digital assets such as Ether.
Derivatives metrics show Ethereum markets tilted toward bullish directional exposure while Bitcoin markets retain relatively more hedged positioning. For traders and institutional treasuries, the key task now is to monitor put‑call ratios, skew, futures open interest, and funding rates to assess whether conviction strengthens or begins to fade.