Bitcoin's surge to a new all-time high has prompted option traders to increase their bets on the growth of the largest cryptocurrency to $140,000. Bloomberg writes about this.
According to the Deribit exchange, open interest in short-term call options with expiration towards the end of the year is concentrated around the strike of $140,000.
There is also a moderate increase in demand for put options as traders seek protection from a pullback after a rally.
"We are now seeing the largest ever nominal open interest in bitcoin futures and perpetual contracts, even after a series of buy-to-close liquidations," said Greg Magadini, director of derivatives at Amberdata. — "The rally took market participants by surprise, and the peak has not yet been reached, especially considering that many traders have shorted this market."
The day before, bitcoin exceeded $126,000 for the first time, and today it partially rolled back and was trading slightly below the $124,000 level at the time of publication. Over the past year, its value has more than doubled.
"From here, keep an eye out for spikes in volatility and any changes in the volume of put options. This will be a signal for short-term corrections," said Jean-David Pekinho, chief commercial officer of Deribit. "Bulls are aiming $130,000 higher, and bears may find opportunities in overbought compressions."
Bitcoin's growth coincided with the start of the U.S. government shutdown on October 1, which fueled demand for defensive assets. The government shutdown prevented the planned publication of key economic data, including the employment report.
The growing demand in the spot market has been the main driver of BTC's recent growth, according to traders. Investors poured $3.2 billion into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs last week, the second-largest volume since their launch in 2024. Meanwhile, nominal open interest in BlackRock ETFs reached a record $49.8 billion on Friday, according to Bloomberg data.