Bitcoin derivatives market turns bullish while spot traders remain cautious

Bitcoin’s derivatives market is turning more bullish even as spot traders remain reluctant to chase another move above $80,000.

Glassnode’s latest Market Pulse showed demand shifting toward call options while US spot Bitcoin ETF inflows accelerated.

Yet aggressive selling still outweighed buying on centralized exchanges, leaving the market without the broad participation that would make another breakout more convincing.

Data from CryptoSlate showed Bitcoin traded around $78,800 on Tuesday after failing to sustain its latest move above $80,000. This puts the divergence between speculative positioning and actual spot demand back in focus.

Options traders start paying for upside

The clearest change came in Bitcoin’s options market, where 25-delta skew swung to -2.05% from +0.79%.

Under Glassnode’s methodology, the move means calls have become relatively more expensive than puts, signaling greater demand for upside exposure.

This marks a reversal from the more defensive positioning seen previously and suggests traders are increasingly willing to pay for the possibility of another advance.

Meanwhile, institutional flows are moving in the same direction.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $681.2 million in net inflows over the latest weekly observation, up from $247.8 million previously.

The increase provides real capital behind the more constructive derivatives positioning and indicates that regulated investment vehicles are still drawing demand despite Bitcoin’s difficulty holding above $80,000.

The combination gives bulls more support than options pricing alone would provide. But it has not yet translated into clear buying pressure on crypto exchanges.

Spot buyers still haven’t taken control

Glassnode’s spot cumulative volume delta improved sharply, but remained negative at $29.6 million.

That matters because CVD tracks the balance between aggressive market buying and selling. A negative reading means sellers are still dominating executed spot flow, even though the imbalance has narrowed substantially from the previous week's -$84.9 million.

In other words, selling pressure is easing, but buyers have not yet taken over.

The perpetual futures market shows similar hesitation. Glassnode said perpetual CVD remained negative at -$176, while long-side funding payments declined, suggesting leveraged traders are becoming less willing to pay a premium for bullish exposure.

That restraint stands out because futures open interest remains elevated at $37 billion. This essentially means that traders have not abandoned leverage, but they are also not showing the kind of aggressive long positioning that would normally accompany strong confidence in an imminent breakout.

The result is a market where different groups are expressing different levels of conviction.

ETF investors are allocating more capital, options traders are paying relatively more for upside, and exchange sellers are becoming less aggressive.

Still, none of those developments alone establishes that Bitcoin has the demand needed to hold above $80,000.

The next meaningful change would come from spot flow.

If CVD turns positive while ETF inflows remain strong, Bitcoin would have evidence that the optimism visible in options is spreading into direct buying. If spot selling persists instead, derivatives traders may find themselves positioned for a breakout that the underlying market still refuses to support.