Deribit's Bitcoin options positions are clearly concentrated at strike prices of $70,000 and $72,000. Data shows that these two strike prices together have a notional open interest of nearly $5 billion, representing approximately 18% of the platform's total Bitcoin options open interest of $28 billion. Looking at the position structure, call options far outnumber put options, indicating that the market had previously bet on Bitcoin continuing to rise.
The two execution prices are the most attention-grabbing.
According to Laevitas data, there are currently approximately 39,000 active call options at a strike price of $70,000, compared to approximately 3,800 active put options; at a strike price of $72,000, there are approximately 37,900 active call options, while there are only about 1,200 active put options. Since one contract on Deribit corresponds to one Bitcoin, the open interest at these two price levels is particularly prominent on the platform.
Call options typically represent an investor's bet on an increase in the price of the underlying asset, meaning they hope Bitcoin will rise above the corresponding strike price before expiration; put options, on the other hand, are more often used to bet on a decline or to hedge risk. Currently, call positions at both strike prices are significantly dominant, reflecting that the market previously tended to price in upward potential.
Large transactions increase portfolio concentration
Recent large trades have further driven up open interest at these two price levels. Laevitas identified a large bullish call spread trade consisting of buying $70,000 worth of call options while simultaneously selling $72,000 worth of call options. This type of structure is typically used to bet on a moderate price increase, with the target range limited to near the higher strike price.
Laevitas stated that this structure accounts for approximately 49% of all open call options with a strike price of $70,000 and 50% of open call options with a strike price of $72,000. In addition, some traders individually purchased large quantities of $70,000 call options, paying approximately $3.4 million in premiums to gain upside exposure.
Some positions retreated after expectations for the bill cooled.
Jimmy Yang, co-founder of Orbit Markets, an institutional digital asset liquidity provider, said that such transactions were related to market optimism regarding the U.S. CLARITY bill. However, this expectation has cooled somewhat in the past 24 hours, with some bullish bets beginning to be closed.
Polymarket data shows that the market's probability of the CLARITY bill being signed into law this year has dropped from 51% earlier this week to 38%. This change comes after Senate Majority Leader John Thune stated that he does not expect the Senate to pass the bill before the August recess.
Overall, $70,000 and $72,000 remain the two most concentrated upper price levels in the current Bitcoin options market. Although bullish positions still dominate, changes in policy expectations have begun to affect short-term position sizing.
