How would you short bitcoin right now the stock exchanges? Which ETF has options?
The swaps and options on LedgerX are fully collateralized and physically delivered.
You can short Bitcoin there by depositing USD via wire transfer and buying puts.
You can see the current list of contracts: https://trade.ledgerx.com/live
The contract size is 0.01 BTC and prices are quoted per Bitcoin (similar to how equity options are usually 100 share contracts and quoted per share).
I've been a customer since 2017 and have been pretty happy with them. If you have questions, I'd be glad to answer them: I'm a seller of puts and would always welcome more people taking the opposite side on the platform. :)
So if e.g., you wanted to sell 100 contracts (1 btc worth) of $40k puts for June 2021, you'd be "locking up" $40k until you exit that position, which would be June at the latest. You could also unlock some or all of that money early by buying back some of those contracts on the market, possibly at a profit or loss depending on how things move. Or you could ride it out until expiration and hope BTC is trading above $40k at the end of June.
Does that make sense?
Last week 1.9B was liquidated [1], mainly longs due to a pullback which was now long surpassed. At the same time on the rise, shorts got liquidated too. I am all for putting your money where your mouth is, but caveat emptor.
1. https://cryptonews.com/news/usd-1-9b-liquidated-as-overexube...
2. https://ambcrypto.com/57-million-in-bitcoin-short-positions-...