Deribit's $5B Bull Bet: $70K and $72K Calls Now the Most Popular BTC Contracts 🐂

Bitcoin's options market on Deribit has piled up nearly $5 billion in notional open interest at the $70,000 and $72,000 strikes, making the two levels the exchange's most heavily traded BTC contracts, according to Deribit Metrics and data from Laevitas. Together they represent roughly 18% of Deribit's $28 billion total BTC options open interest, with one contract equal to one bitcoin.

The positioning is heavily skewed bullish. At the $70,000 strike, open interest stands at approximately 39,000 calls against 3,800 puts, while the $72,000 strike carries around 37,900 calls versus only 1,200 puts. Call options grant the buyer the right to purchase bitcoin at a specified price by a set date; puts grant the right to sell. The wide gap between calls and puts reflects strong demand for upside exposure over downside protection.

Much of the buildup traces to large, structured trades rather than scattered flow. Laevitas identified a major bull call spread involving the simultaneous purchase of the $70,000 call and sale of the $72,000 call — a strategy that profits if bitcoin rises moderately toward $72,000. That structure accounts for roughly 49% and 50% of total call open interest at the $70,000 and $72,000 strikes, respectively. Additional activity included calendar spreads across short- and longer-dated expiries and outright call purchases at $70,000.

Demand for the upside bets has been linked by traders to optimism around the CLARITY Act, though participants have recently trimmed positions, according to the report. Bitcoin was last trading at $63,970.76, leaving both strikes meaningfully out of the money.