Bitcoin Options See $5B Bet Wall as Traders Position for a Major Rally

Bitcoin’s options market on Deribit is showing a strong bullish tilt, with call options at the $70,000 and $72,000 strike prices attracting nearly $5 billion in combined open interest.

The concentration of positions around these two levels highlights a clear upside bias among traders. Bitcoin options activity on Deribit, the leading crypto options platform, has become heavily centered around these price targets.

Together, the $70,000 and $72,000 call contracts represent almost $5 billion in notional open interest, accounting for about 18% of Deribit’s total Bitcoin options open interest of roughly $28 billion. Each contract represents exposure to one BTC, making these two strikes the most actively positioned contracts on the exchange.

The imbalance between calls and puts is particularly notable. Data from Laevitas shows the $70,000 strike has around 39,000 active call contracts compared with only about 3,800 puts. At the $72,000 level, there are approximately 37,900 calls versus just 1,200 puts. The overwhelming dominance of call options reflects traders’ expectations for further upside.

Call options provide buyers with the right, but not the obligation, to purchase Bitcoin at a predetermined price before expiration. Traders typically use them to profit from anticipated price increases. Put options work in the opposite direction, allowing buyers to sell Bitcoin at a set price and are commonly used to hedge against declines or speculate on downside moves.

Several large trades have contributed to the buildup of open interest around the two strike levels. Laevitas identified a major bull call spread strategy involving the purchase of $70,000 calls while simultaneously selling $72,000 calls.

The strategy reflects a moderately bullish outlook, with traders positioning for Bitcoin to rise toward the $72,000 range rather than expecting an unlimited rally.

According to Laevitas, this structure represents roughly 49% of total call open interest at the $70,000 strike and about 50% at the $72,000 strike.

Other significant positions included calendar spreads, which traders use to take advantage of changes in volatility between short-term and longer-term options contracts.

Another participant or group of traders purchased a large volume of $70,000 calls, spending approximately $3.4 million in premiums to gain exposure to potential Bitcoin upside.

Jimmy Yang, co-founder of institutional digital asset liquidity provider Orbit Markets, said much of the recent call demand was linked to optimism surrounding the U.S. crypto market structure legislation known as the Clarity Act.

“Earlier this month, we saw strong demand for BTC upside calls, with the July 31 $70,000 and $72,000 strikes becoming especially popular,” Yang said, adding that much of the positioning was driven by expectations that the legislation could pass before the end of the month.

However, he noted that sentiment has shifted recently, with traders reducing some bullish positions after expectations around the bill weakened.

According to Polymarket, the probability of the Clarity Act becoming law this year has fallen to 38% from 51% earlier in the week. The decline followed comments from Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicating that lawmakers are unlikely to complete the legislation before the August recess.

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