CoinDesk
Deribit's $70,000 and $72,000 bitcoin call strikes have accumulated nearly $5 billion in notional open interest, about 18% of the exchange's $28 billion in total BTC options open interest, with calls at those levels vastly outnumbering puts. Laevitas data shows roughly 39,000 active $70,000 calls against 3,800 puts, and around 37,900 $72,000 calls against just 1,200 puts, a call-to-put skew that points to concentrated upside conviction. The two strikes are now the most heavily traded contracts on the platform, with each Deribit contract representing one BTC.
Why it matters
A bull call spread, buying the $70,000 call and selling the $72,000 call, accounts for roughly 49% of call open interest at $70,000 and 50% at $72,000, according to Laevitas. Jimmy Yang, co-founder of Orbit Markets, said much of the recent demand for those topside calls was tied to expectations that the CLARITY Act could pass before the end of July. The trade is a moderate-upside structure, profitable if BTC pushes up to but not through the $72,000 short leg, and a single trader or desk also paid $3.4 million in premium for outright $70,000 calls.
Market impact
That conviction is now cooling. Polymarket odds of the CLARITY Act being signed into law this year have slipped to 38% from 51% earlier this week, after Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he does not expect the Senate to pass the bill before the August recess. Yang said the last 24 hours saw meaningful unwinding of those bullish bets, a setup traders will watch closely: if the structural support at $70,000 and $72,000 thins, the same flow that built the $5 billion cluster can pressure the tape on the way down.
Frequently asked questions
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How much open interest sits at the $70,000 and $72,000 strikes?
Nearly $5 billion in notional open interest, about 18% of Deribit's $28 billion in total BTC options open interest, making those two strikes the most heavily traded contracts on the platform.
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What is the call-to-put ratio at those strikes?
Roughly 39,000 $70,000 calls against 3,800 puts, and around 37,900 $72,000 calls against 1,200 puts, per Laevitas data, a heavy skew toward upside bets.
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What strategy built most of the call stack?
A bull call spread, buying the $70,000 call and selling the $72,000 call, accounts for roughly 49% of call open interest at $70,000 and 50% at $72,000. One trader or desk also paid $3.4 million in premium for outright $70,000 calls.
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What drove the demand for those calls?
Orbit Markets co-founder Jimmy Yang said the recent demand was tied to expectations that the CLARITY Act could pass before the end of July.
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Why is the bullish positioning now unwinding?
Polymarket odds of the CLARITY Act being signed this year slipped to 38% from 51% after Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he does not expect the bill to pass before the August recess, and Yang said the last 24 hours saw meaningful unwinding of those bullish bets.
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