Bitcoin Options Show Bullish Bias as Call Interest Dominates Deribit Activity

Bitcoin (BTC) options traders are continuing to lean bullish, with call contracts maintaining an edge in both open interest and trading activity—an indication that expectations for an upside push remain intact even as demand for downside protection persists.

Data from Deribit, the largest crypto options exchange, showed that as of Thursday UTC (April 10), total Bitcoin options open interest stood at 26,742 contracts, representing roughly $1.92 billion in notional value. Calls accounted for 15,600 contracts, while puts totaled 11,142, putting the put-to-call ratio at 0.71. In options markets, a put/call ratio below roughly 0.7–0.8 is commonly read as bullish positioning, while readings above 1.0 tend to signal more defensive or bearish sentiment.

Although 0.71 sits near a neutral threshold, the market structure still reflects a sustained call bias—suggesting traders are positioning for a gradual recovery or continuation higher rather than pricing in pronounced downside. Deribit’s estimated ‘max pain’ level—the price at which option holders collectively would suffer the greatest losses at expiry—was pegged near $69,000, a level closely watched because it can become a magnet around expiration depending on dealer hedging flows.

Positioning was particularly concentrated at the upper end of the current range. For same-day expiries, open interest clustered in call strikes between $74,000 and $80,000, with the $76,000, $80,000, and $74,000 calls among the largest. Across all expiries, the $80,000 call ranked as the single largest open-interest position, reinforcing a market narrative of ongoing ‘upside extension’ expectations.

At the same time, sizable put exposure was evident further below spot, notably at the $60,000 and $50,000 strikes. That combination—heavy upside calls paired with deep-out-of-the-money puts—can point to traders simultaneously pursuing leveraged upside bets while insuring portfolios against tail-risk drawdowns.

Flow data over the past 24 hours also favored calls. Deribit recorded 11,516 call contracts traded versus 9,052 put contracts, producing a 24-hour put/call ratio of 0.79. While closer to balanced than the open-interest measure, the reading still suggests that traders have been more active on the upside than the downside in near-term positioning.

The most actively traded contracts were concentrated in higher call strikes and select downside hedges, led by the $80,000 call expiring April 24, the $90,000 call expiring June 26, and the $76,000 call expiring May 1. A $60,000 put expiring June 26 also ranked among the top contracts by volume, highlighting that demand for protection remains part of the trade even in a call-dominant tape.

In terms of where activity is gathering by expiry, open interest was most concentrated around April 24 (56% calls), June 26 (57% calls), and Dec. 25 (63% calls). By trading volume, notable expiries included April 24 (53% puts), April 10 (61% calls), and June 26 (55% puts), implying that traders are actively rotating short-dated exposure while carrying call-heavy positioning further out.

Spot prices were slightly lower despite the constructive options backdrop. According to TokenPost Market, Bitcoin traded around $71,720 as of 12:45 a.m. ET on April 10, down 0.78% from the prior day.

Options are derivatives that allow investors to express leveraged views on price direction or hedge existing exposure. A ‘call option’ gives the right to buy an asset at a predetermined price by a set date, typically used for bullish positioning, while a ‘put option’ gives the right to sell, often used to protect against declines. ‘Open interest’ tracks the number of outstanding contracts that remain active in the market.