According to data, Bitcoin (BTC) call options concentrated on strike prices above $50,000 ahead of February's month-end expiration.
This concentration occurred despite the price of Bitcoin falling below this threshold on Tuesday, when new inflation data from the USA was announced.
According to Deribit data, there is a significant concentration of open Bitcoin call options at strike prices of $60,000, $65,000 and $75,000 through month-end expiration on February 23.
Bitfinex's Head of Derivatives, Jag Kooner, stated that the strike price with the second highest open position is $60,000. Currently, the second highest options contract in terms of trading volume stands out as Bitcoin call options with a strike price of $75,000 expiring on June 24.
As the market attempts to surpass the critical psychological level of $50,000, many long-term bullish investors are purchasing these cheap call options with strike prices much higher than current Bitcoin prices. “These strike prices represent significant highs above the previous cycle,” Kooner said.
The concentration of Bitcoin call options at strike prices of $60,000 and above indicates that a significant portion of market participants have particular interest or expectation that the Bitcoin price will rise above this level before the next month-end expiration date.
Kooner also pointed out that the options market is heavily biased towards the long side. Since Bitcoin surpassed $48,000, an increasing number of trading positions have formed in the derivatives market.
The current overall open interest spread is trending towards buying with a bid-ask ratio of 0.47.
*This is not investment advice.