bitcoin Traders started 2026 on a positive note, buying options bets that point to a six-digit price rally.
Since at least Friday, there has been a notable increase in investor interest in the $100,000 January-expiring call option listed on Deribit, the world’s largest crypto options exchange by volume and open interest.
A call option gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to purchase the underlying asset at a predetermined price at a later date. The $100,000 call option represents a bet that the price of bitcoin will rise above that level at or before contract expiration.
“Flow remains dominated by print runs, with a notable uptick in interest around the 100,000 calls on January 30,” Jasper De Maere, Wintermute strategist.
In the last 24 hours alone, the number of active or open contracts in that particular option has increased by 420 BTC, according to data source Amberdata. That equates to theoretical open interest growth of $38.8 million, the largest among all January calls and across all platform-wide maturities on Deribit, where one options contract represents one BTC.
The option recently had total notional open interest of $1.45 billion, with the January expiration representing just $828 million, according to data source Deribit Metrics.
The bullish positioning aligns with the bullish sentiment that dominated most of 2025, as traders sought call options with strike prices between $100,000 and $140,000.
Demand for these bullish options could increase further if the BTC price rally extends beyond $94,000, according to QCP Capital. The cryptocurrency is up about 5% in the first five days of the year, briefly topping $93,000 at one point on Monday morning.
“Mail-[December] expiration positioning has changed. BTC perpetual funding on Deribit has risen above 30%, indicating that dealers are now in an upside short range. “This dynamic was evident when spot surpassed 90,000, triggering hedging flows into perpetual stocks and near-dated call options,” QCP Capital said last week.
“A sustained move above 94,000 could amplify this effect,” the company added.
