BTC Volatility Index Hits FTX-Level High as Price Plummets to ~$60,000

Bitcoin's Volmex BVIV volatility index reached its highest level since FTX's collapse in late 2022, signaling severe panic as prices plunged to nearly $60,000. The BVIV, akin to the VIX, rose to nearly 100% from 56% in late Thursday, measured as annualized expected price turbulence over four weeks. Call options for upside bets and put options for downside protection saw heightened demand, with the top five traded options all puts at strikes from $70,000 to $20,000, per Deribit Metrics. As prices tumbled from $70,000 to nearly $60,000, dealers adjusted gamma, steepening the volatility curve and driving short-dated vols higher. Fears of digital asset treasuries unwinding and potential losses prompted aggressive buying of protection, deepening the price slide. As of 03:27 UTC on February 6, 2026, BTC briefly recovered to over $64,000, a more than 5% rebound from overnight lows. Analysts expect volatility to stabilize if price action holds near $60,000, with stretched volatility potentially pulling back.