ATM straddle
Why the ATM straddle matters
An at-the-money straddle — buying the call and the put at the strike closest to spot, for the same expiry — is the standard way to take a pure view on volatility, without taking a directional bet on price. Its combined premium is, in effect, the market's own dollar price for "how much movement is priced in" between now and expiry.
Tracking that combined premium over time shows whether the market is paying up for expected volatility (premium rising) or expecting calm (premium decaying), independent of which way BTC actually moves.
How to read this chart
- Current / Change — the live combined call+put premium in USD, and how much it's moved over the selected window.
- High / Low — the range the straddle premium traded in over that window — a wide range means volatility expectations themselves were volatile.
- Expiry selector — switch between listed expiries; near-dated straddles are more sensitive to short-term event risk, far-dated ones reflect longer-horizon expectations.
This tracks actual mark-price premium only — there's no theoretical time-decay curve overlaid, so a falling line can reflect either falling IV or the passage of time (theta decay), or both.
Methodology & data
Both legs use Deribit's own mark price (not last-traded price, which can be stale on illiquid strikes), converted to USD at each timestamp's spot price. The strike tracked is whichever strike is closest to spot at each point — since spot moves, the "ATM strike" itself can shift over the window shown.
What is an ATM straddle?
A position combining a call and a put at the same strike (closest to the current spot price) and expiry. Its combined premium rises and falls with the market's expectation of future volatility, largely independent of price direction.
Why does the straddle premium change even if BTC's price doesn't move much?
Because premium reflects expected future volatility (implied volatility), not just current price. IV can rise or fall on shifting expectations even with spot flat, and premium also decays with time (theta) as expiry approaches.
Is this using last-traded price or mark price?
Mark price — Deribit's own reference price, which is more reliable than last-traded price on strikes that don't trade often.
Which expiries are available?
Every expiry Deribit currently lists for the selected asset (BTC or ETH); use the expiry selector above the chart to switch between them.