Bitcoin’s options market is showing a strong bullish bias, with traders building nearly $5 billion in combined open interest around the $70,000 and $72,000 call strikes on Deribit.
The heavy concentration of positions at these levels suggests many traders are preparing for a potential Bitcoin rally. The two strike prices have become the most active contracts on Deribit, highlighting growing demand for upside exposure in the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
The $70,000 and $72,000 call options collectively represent close to $5 billion in notional open interest, making up about 18% of Deribit’s total Bitcoin options open interest, which stands near $28 billion. Each options contract represents one BTC, adding to the significance of the positioning.
Data from Laevitas shows a major imbalance between bullish calls and bearish puts. The $70,000 strike currently has around 39,000 active calls compared with approximately 3,800 puts. At the $72,000 strike, traders hold nearly 37,900 calls versus only about 1,200 puts. The large gap between calls and puts points to strong expectations for Bitcoin upside.
Call options give traders the ability to buy Bitcoin at a predetermined price before expiration, making them a common tool for betting on price increases. Put options, meanwhile, provide the right to sell at a fixed price and are generally used to protect against declines or speculate on downside moves.
Several large trades have helped create the current concentration around these strike levels. Laevitas identified a sizeable bull call spread involving the purchase of $70,000 calls and the simultaneous sale of $72,000 calls.
The strategy indicates a moderately bullish outlook, with traders positioning for Bitcoin to rise toward the $72,000 area while limiting potential costs and risks.
Laevitas estimates that this structure accounts for nearly half of all call open interest at both strikes, representing about 49% of $70,000 call positions and 50% of $72,000 call positions.
Other notable activity included calendar spreads, which traders use to capitalize on differences in volatility between options with different expiration dates.
Another participant or group of traders purchased a large number of $70,000 calls, spending approximately $3.4 million in premiums to gain exposure to a possible Bitcoin move higher.
Jimmy Yang, co-founder of Orbit Markets, said recent demand for Bitcoin upside options was partly influenced by optimism surrounding the U.S. crypto market structure legislation known as the Clarity Act.
Yang said July 31 call options at the $70,000 and $72,000 strikes attracted significant interest earlier in the month, with traders positioning for a possible passage of the bill before the end of July.
However, he noted that some of those bullish positions have recently been reduced as expectations for the legislation’s progress weakened.
According to Polymarket, the probability of the Clarity Act becoming law this year has dropped to 38% from 51% earlier in the week. The decline followed remarks from Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who indicated that the Senate is unlikely to pass the bill before the August recess.
