Anchorage Digital Says Bitcoin Options Traders Hedge Downside as Uncertainty Lingers in Anchorage

Bitcoin options traders are staying heavily positioned for downside protection, with Anchorage Digital’s head of research David Lawant saying the report found elevated demand for downside hedges across Deribit, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Strategy (MSTR).

“The US Army will allow several companies to build critical minerals processing plants at military bases around the country as part of a Trump administration push for more domestic production”

Bitget

Anchorage’s analysis said both Deribit and IBIT showed elevated put skew, indicating traders were paying a premium for downside protection rather than positioning for further gains.

Cointelegraph

The report found defensive positioning ranked in the 82nd percentile of IBIT’s history and the 84th percentile of Deribit’s five-year history.

Anchorage also said Bitcoin ($BTC) options markets spent nearly half of 2026 pricing higher implied volatility over the next week than over the next month, an unusual inversion that it described as historically episodic and short-lived.

Lawant said he is watching for one-month implied volatility to once again exceed one-week implied volatility, which he said would indicate markets are becoming more comfortable looking beyond immediate risks.

Anchorage’s report tied the cautious options posture to near-term risks, saying the pattern was attributed to a succession of macroeconomic, geopolitical and crypto-specific catalysts.

The analysis highlighted that Strategy’s perpetual preferred stock, STRC, fell as low as $82.53 on June 22, or about 17% below its $100 par value, before partially recovering after the company disclosed it had increased its fiat reserves to $1.3 billion.

Cryptonews.net

As of Thursday, Anchorage said STRC was trading around $77, roughly 23% below par, and it said the weakness extended beyond STRC into Strategy’s common shares (MSTR).

Anchorage reported that Strategy’s common shares were down about 78% over the past year and traded around $87 on Thursday, according to Yahoo Finance data.

Even with the sell-off, the report said Strategy’s options market remained well below stress levels seen during previous market corrections, and it said put skew had not reached levels typically associated with fears of forced deleveraging or a broader crisis.

Separately from crypto markets, Bitget reported that the US Army will allow several companies to build critical minerals processing plants at military bases as part of a Trump administration push for more domestic production.

“Bitcoin options traders remain heavily positioned for downside protection, with both crypto-native and exchange-traded fund investors showing elevated demand for downside hedges, according to new research by Anchorage Digital's head of research, David Lawant”

Cryptonews.net

Bitget said REalloys Inc., Titan Mining Corp., ioneer Ltd. and Energy Exploration Technologies (EnergyX) reached agreements with the Pentagon to build facilities handling rare earth minerals, graphite, lithium and boron, with REalloys planning a rare-earth separation facility at the Toole Army Depot in Utah.

The report said Titan Mining would build and operate graphite purification facilities at Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas and Anniston Army Depot in Alabama, while Energy Exploration Technologies and Sydney-based ioneer would develop a lithium facility and a boron plant respectively.

Bitget also said the plan to build mineral plants on army bases was foreshadowed in March of last year when President Donald Trump signed an executive order invoking emergency powers to boost critical minerals production capabilities.

In the same coverage, Bitget said China’s Commerce Department placed export controls on US rare earth companies MP Materials Corp. and USA Rare Earth Inc., while the Group of Seven nations set a target to reduce their reliance on Chinese imports.