Total open interest in Bitcoin options, the number of open orders and buy orders, recently increased to $14.87 billion on June 30 before dropping to $10.74 billion on July 4, on-chain. data On July 5th shows.
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At $14.87 billion, the total number of open interest bitcoin options on top trading platforms, mostly Deribit, CME and OKX, hit all-time highs recorded in October 2021 when prices continued to climb, hitting all-time highs. $69,000.
On October 21st, the total open interest for Bitcoin reached $15.06 billion, a record that has never been broken.
BTC options near 2021 peaks
Many traders appear to be optimistic about the future of Bitcoin, as open interest remains high and is trending near peak levels in October 2021. With a strong approach to the first half of 2023, prices are expected to continue to rise.
Bitcoin’s recent price rally, which reached new highs in June 2023 at $31,300, can be seen as a sign of an overall bullish trend, similar to the run-up to prices reaching over $69,000 in November 2021.
This apparent skewness and optimism can be demonstrated by the distribution of Bitcoin “call” and “put” options across major cryptocurrency derivatives trading platforms dominated by Deribit. For example, as of July 5, more than 65% of all Bitcoin options orders are “calls,” which means that more traders are anticipating higher prices than spot prices. At this level, approximately 206,000 BTC orders are placed as “calls”.
In the meantime, few traders expect futures from spot prices to $28,300 or lower in the coming months. Around 99,000 BTC options were marked as “options” in line with traders’ expectations for worse prices in the coming months.
Bitcoin traders are bullish
The same can be seen in the trading patterns of the last 24 hours. Although bitcoin price is down 2% while remaining above the psychological $30k level, most options traders are bullish as there are more “calls” than “put options”.
Options typically give the contract holder the right or obligation to buy or sell the underlying asset at an agreed price on or before the expiration date. Mostly, contracted options are used by traders to mitigate risk. More “calls” could mean more bitcoin traders are bullish, expecting the coin to clear recent resistance levels.
Based on recent trends, options trading volumes have been decreasing on Deribit. After peaking at $3.29 billion on Oct. 16, 2021, engagement levels have contracted over the past 20 months.
Trading was suppressed throughout 2022 during a bear market, which saw bitcoin drop below $16,000 in November 2022. Since then, options trading volumes have skyrocketed, peaking at over $2.3 billion in March 2023. It has since fallen to Below the $1 billion mark as of writing on July 5.
Cover image from Canvas, chart from Tradingview