Deribit Executive Says 'Sophisticated Institutional Positioning' Driving Bitcoins Upside

Bitcoins options pit stayed rowdy Monday evening as the price cooled to $124,843 at 8 p.m. EST after a quick rip to the $126,272 lifetime high.

Options Appetite Climbs With Price as ETFs and Macro Tailwinds Bite

On the options board, calls still carry the baton. Coinglass.com stats show calls represent 59.77% of open interest (OI) versus 40.23% for puts — roughly 245,840 BTC in call OI against 165,501 BTC in puts — and the past 24 hours leaned the same way, with calls at 51.9% of volume versus 48.1% for puts (about 38,748 BTC in calls, 35,914 BTC in puts). Translation: dip-buyers prefer options with defined risk.

Where traders are clustering: Dec. 26, 2025, calls dominate open interest, led by the $140,000 strike (9,893 BTC OI), then $200,000 (8,577 BTC), $120,000 (6,895 BTC), $150,000 (6,389 BTC), and $160,000 (5,463 BTC). Theres meaningful interest at $130,000 (4,727 BTC), while an Oct. 31 $124,000 call sits high at 6,538 BTC — tidy positioning for near-dated strength.

Today‘s flow favored short-dated calls on Deribit — Oct. 31 $128,000, $124,000 and $126,000 led volumes (2,306 BTC, 1,737 BTC and 1,349 BTC). Bears weren’t absent: the Oct. 24 $108,000 put printed 1,703 BTC and the Oct. 17 $110,000 put 1,279 BTC. Over on Bybit, a Dec. 26 $40,000 USDT-settled protective put showed up with about 1,403 BTC of volume — the institutional way to say “insurance still matters.”

Total bitcoin options open interest sits near record territory on Coinglass, in the high-$50 billions range, having marched higher with price through Q3 into October. That rise fits the classic “trend, then options amplify it” playbook: calls fund upside while puts finance structure.

Max pain — the level where option sellers feel least pain — maps the incentive field. For Oct. 31, it hovers around $125,000. For the Oct. 10 cluster, it shifts closer to $116,000. Into year-end rolls, it trends nearer $110,000. Said plainly: dealers would love a stasis zone near $125K near term, while deeper gravity into the winter expiries would suit premium sellers just fine.

Context matters. Bitcoin kicked off October with fireworks, peaking above $125,500 and living up to “Uptober,” roughly 12% off last weeks $110,000 prints, while gold also notched records — a neat snapshot of capital tiptoeing toward hard-asset hedges. That macro tone fed directly into options: more call spreads, more calendars, more upside structure — with just enough put activity to keep risk officers sleeping at night.

Jean-David Péquignot, chief commercial officer (CCO) for Deribit by Coinbase, told Bitcoin.com News that the recent leg higher reflects a confluence of catalysts — U.S. government shutdown jitters, about $3.2 billion in spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows, and thinning exchange inventory — a cocktail he labeled a self-reinforcing cycle. He sees targets between $128,000 and $138,000 if momentum persists, with a tactical air pocket to $118,000 if policy winds shift.

And Péquignot flagged the volatility tells: “Amid the rally, bitcoin options markets remain very active, signaling sophisticated institutional positioning for continued upside,” the Deribit executive stated in a market note sent to our newsdesk. “1-week BTC ATM implied volatility has picked up from 30% in early October to 38% but 1-month IV has only increased by 2.5%, suggesting an orderly move given the spot price action.”

He added that the flow composition skews bullish without tipping into mania: “Call spreads and call calendar spreads show strong trading activity, as calls dominate ca. 62% of options volumes on Deribit. Options traders are betting on a rally extension into Q4 but arent all-in on euphoria with calls layered with protections,” Péquignot remarked.

The Deribit exec added:

“Largely positive towards the end of September, the 30-day Put-Call skew has dropped close to neutral territory, confirming this bullish re-positioning. And the Put/Call ratios for end-October expiry and beyond show a large Open Interest in calls vs puts. Short call positions for end-October had to be rolled higher, shifting strikes to 126k–130k.”

His risk checklist is simple and practical: “From here, watch for volatility spikes and any shift in put volume as a red flag for near-term corrections. Bulls have their eyes on $130K+, and bears might find opportunities in overbought squeezes.”

Bottom line for traders: upside lures at $126,000–$130,000 remain the magnet in the near term, December still carries aspirational $140,000–$200,000 targets, and max-pain gravity plus dealer hedging can make the $124K–$128K band feel sticky. Keep spreads defined, respect gamma, and let the options market pay for your patience.