Bitcoin traders kick off 2026 with bets on price rally above $100,000

Bitcoin traders began 2026 on a positive note, snapping up options bets that target a price rally into six digits.

Since at least Friday, there has been a notable increase in investor interest in the $100,000 strike January expiry call option listed on Deribit, the world's largest crypto options exchange by volume and open interest.

A call option gives the purchaser the right, but not the obligation, to purchase the underlying asset at a predetermined price at a later date. The $100,000 call option represents a bet that bitcoin's price will rally above that level on or before the expiry of the contract.

"Flow remains dominated by rolls, with a notable uptick in interest around the 30 Jan 100k calls," Jasper De Maere, desk strategist at Wintermute.

In the past 24 hours alone, the number of active or open contracts in that particular option has increased by 420 BTC, according to data source Amberdata. That equates to a notional open interest growth of $38.80 million, the most among all January calls and across all platform-wide expiries on Deribit, where one options contract represents one BTC.

The option recently boasted a total notional open interest of $1.45 billion, with January expiry accounting for $828 million alone, according to data source Deribit Metrics.

The upside positioning aligns with the bullish sentiment that dominated most of 2025, when traders chased call options at strikes from $100,000 to $140,000.

Demand for these bullish option plays could surge further if BTC's price rally extends beyond $94,000, according to QCP Capital. The cryptocurrency has risen around 5% in the first five days of the year, briefly topping $93,000 at one point early Monday.

"Post-[December] expiry positioning has shifted. BTC perpetual funding on Deribit has jumped above 30%, signaling dealers are now short gamma to the upside. This dynamic was evident as spot pushed through 90k, triggering hedging flows into perpetuals and near-dated calls," QCP Capital said last week.

"A sustained move above 94k could amplify this effect," the firm added.