You could probably find a willing "I'm putting all of my life savings in Bitcoin because it is rapidly appreciating" type to do the deal, it's free money as far as they see it.

I've looked and I could not find anyone like that.

You could try following up with this guy: http://falkvinge.net/2011/05/29/why-im-putting-all-my-saving...

(for reference, HN discussion was here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2596475)

That guy is just buying bitcoins, he's not interested in writing put options.

Right. I'm taking the piss out of bitcoin as a whole here, I don't actually think the bitcoin market is mature enough to make shorting on a large scale feasible nor any individual put transaction advisable given the lack of clearinghouses and counterparty risk mentioned by steve8918.

But... the guy has made it clear he believed bitcoin's value would rise, so selling a put option at - say - current value would be advantageous to him. Offer a low enough strike price, high enough premium, and word your offer in layman's terms ("you get money now and might get money later if bitcoin rises or might have to pay money if it falls") and he could be tempted to enter in an appropriate contract.

Producers and merchants trying to hedge their cash flow.

It would actually be very useful to have a liquid options market to help producers and merchants overcome the current volatility.

Could you name one? I've never heard of anyone selling a put option on BTC.