ETH's $169k 1850 Call Buy Was Only Half the Trade
The scanner flagged buyer-led flow in ETH's 31-Jul-2026 1850 call (single 4h bucket net premium $169k, buyer aggression 0.98, part of a $309k/24h total). Read in isolation, OI alone would say "bulls bought the 1850 line" — the strike's OI climbed 4,648 contracts in 24h, consistent with directional call demand.
But the 1700 put on the same expiry saw an even larger move: OI +5,199 contracts, $311k net premium, buyer aggression 0.9998 — and both strikes carried two block trades of nearly identical notional.
| Strike | Type | OI Δ24h | Net Premium | Buyer Aggr | Block Notional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1700 | Put | +5,199 | $311k | 1.00 | $8.93M |
| 1850 | Call | +4,648 | $309k | 0.98 | $8.87M |
Same expiry, matched size, both taker-bought — the shape reads as a strangle rather than a one-sided call bet. Spot sits at $1797.61 versus a $1800 max pain (0.13% away), while dealer gamma flip for this expiry sits at $1690, below spot, with gex total negative.