Deribit’s New Options Allow Bitcoin Traders to Bet on Rally to $100K

Bitcoin traders can now bet on a potential price rise to $100,000 via crypto derivatives exchange Deribit’s new options contracts.

Call and put options at the $100,000 strike price expiring on Sept. 24, 2021, went live on Deribit Thursday.

“A few trades have taken place, as thus far 45 [call option] contracts have been traded,” Luuk Strijers, chief commercial officer at Deribit, told CoinDesk.

At press time, the $100,000 call option is holding a cumulative open interest of 29.4 contracts. Open interest refers to the number of contracts traded but not liquidated via offsetting positions. The $100,000 put option is yet to register any activity.

Options are derivative contracts that give the purchaser the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell the underlying asset at a predetermined price on or before a specific date. A call option represents the right to buy, and the put option gives the right to sell. On Deribit, one options contract represents the right to buy or sell one bitcoin.

Theoretically, the purchase of a $100,000 call is a bet that bitcoin will rise above that level on or before Sept. 24, 2021, making the option “in-the-money”. Traders, who expect prices to more than quadruple over the next three quarters from the current price of $23,200, can express their bullish view via the $100,000 call.

Currently, that call option is, as traders say, deep out-of-the-money (that is, the spot price is well below the strike price) and trading at a relatively low price of 0.0475 BTC ($1,090 at press time). By comparison, the $24,000 call is trading at 0.2870 BTC ($6,588).

Traders often buy deep out-of-the-money calls during strong bull runs. That’s because they are relatively cheap and gain significant value amid a continued rally in the spot market, helping buyers make big money on small investments.

Deribit’s decision to launch options at the $100,000 strike comes in the wake of bitcoin’s move into the uncharted territory well above $20,000. The cryptocurrency rose swiftly through $21,000 and $22,000 to set a record high of $23,770 on Thursday. The crypto asset changing hands near $23,100 at press time, according to CoinDesk 20 data.

The decision to launch options for the $100,000 strike expiring in September 2021 was based on market demand and in line with Deribit’s policies, Strijers said.