In principle, therefore, the value of a portfolio can be insured by buying. [causal]
A floor below which the value of an asset cannot fall is, in effect, a put option on the asset: an option to sell the asset at the guaranteed price level. In principle, therefore, the value of a portfolio can be insured by buying a put on the portfolio with a strike price equal to the desired floor.
Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, loc. 791