BTC may fall below $80K in early 2026 as bearish option bets surge

An analysis suggests the probability of Bitcoin falling below $80,000 in early 2026 is growing, driven by a significant increase in bearish positions in the options market. According to CoinDesk, Nick Forster, founder of the Synthetix ecosystem options protocol Derive, said that bets are concentrating on put options with strike prices of $84,000 and $80,000 that expire on Dec. 26. He noted that this activity has caused a sharp drop in the options skew, an indicator of bearish sentiment. Forster explained that this suggests a meaningful increase in the probability of BTC dropping below $80,000 in early 2026. He added that it is difficult to say the market has bottomed out and that short-term volatility is currently outpacing long-term volatility.