Bitcoin options traders eye $100,000 following year-end meltdown

General view during Token 2025 at Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre on 1 October in Singapore. (Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)

Bitcoin options are showing that traders are setting their sights on a return to the $100,000 price level amid optimism that investors will turn back to digital assets following the crypto market’s crash in the fourth quarter.

Open interest, the number for outstanding contracts, in the Bitcoin options market has been clustered at the contracts expiring on Jan. 30, at the strike price of $100,000. The total notional value is more than double the second most bidden options contract — puts at the strike of $80,000 with the same expiry, according to data from Coinbase Global Inc.’s Deribit derivatives exchange.

“Size isn’t enormous, but direction is consistent — and builds on the large $100,000 strike interest flagged last week,” said Jake Ostrovskis, head of over-the-counter trading at Wintermute. “There is still a bit of put premium in the curve out from there, but it softened significantly. So I think it feels like the market is no longer expecting the worst in terms of downside activity and things firming up slightly.”

That marks a significant departure from the crypto rout in late 2025 when persistent selling in the spot market was coupled with a spike in premium over downside protections in the form of expensive put options contracts.

Source: Deribit

Bitcoin rose as much as 3.6% to $94,494 as of 2:20 p.m. in New York, almost a one-month high. The largest cryptocurrency by market value fell 24% in the fourth quarter, to finish last year at $87,648. The price last reached $100,000 on Nov. 14.

The rebound also comes as a reversal of outflows from investment products for both Bitcoin and the second-largest token Ether with $471 million and $174 million in positive flows on Jan. 2, respectively, according to Wintermute. That level of demand was last seen in November, the firm said. Such vehicles have seen large outflows since the crypto market crash in early October, when around $19 billion digital assets were wiped out in a single day.

Rising Bitcoin prices are also following rallies across other corners of the market with precious metals such as gold surging to a record high and equities buoyed by tech stocks. “This creates good opportunity to buy upside BTC calls into 2026,” said Greg Magadini, director of derivatives at Amberdata. “The market is today waking up to BTC lagging behind precious metals.”

Bitcoin had made multiple attempts to break through key levels in recent months but only met with swift pull-backs with sizable liquidations in both directions. Constant selling pressure and the lack of recovery in crypto derivatives that typically inject speculative capital to amplify price swings had put the crypto market in a prolonged slump.

“A retest of $100,000 through $106,000 is not out of question, as it is common in bearish setups.” said Satraj Bambra, CEO of hybrid exchange Rails. “For BTC to be bullish it would need to reclaim and hold onto $106,000 on the weekly basis to have another stab at all time highs.”

Option positioning shows a quick rally through the $90,000s with the next “pause point” at $105,000, Magadini said.