As 2026 officially begins, Bitcoin traders are noticeably more bullish in the derivatives market. Recent data shows that the market is heavily betting on Bitcoin breaking through the $100,000 mark, with related options demand rapidly heating up on Deribit, the world’s largest crypto options exchange, signaling a clear bullish outlook.
Since last Friday, the trading volume of Bitcoin call options with a $100,000 strike price and January expiration has significantly increased. Call options represent investors betting that Bitcoin’s price will rise above a certain level before expiration. This concentrated positioning indicates traders are confident about short-term and phased market trends. Wintermute strategists note that current trading mainly involves rolling over positions, with the $100,000 call options expiring on January 30 being particularly active.
According to Amberdata, in just the past 24 hours, the open interest of this options contract increased by approximately 420 Bitcoin, corresponding to a notional value of about $38.8 million, making it one of the contracts with the largest growth among all January expiring call options on Deribit. Statistics from Deribit Metrics show that the notional open interest of $100,000 strike options has reached approximately $1.45 billion, with contracts expiring in January accounting for as much as $828 million.
This trend continues the main logic since 2025. At that time, the Bitcoin options market was long-term focused around the $100,000 to $140,000 range, with bullish sentiment dominating. QCP Capital believes that once Bitcoin’s spot price effectively breaks above $94,000, demand for high-strike call options could further expand, creating positive feedback.
In terms of price performance, Bitcoin has risen about 5% in the first five trading days of 2026, approaching $93,000 during Monday’s early trading session. Meanwhile, the annualized funding rate for Bitcoin perpetual contracts on Deribit has risen above 30%, indicating some traders are hedging by shorting bullish options. When the spot price breaks above $90,000, this structural hedging demand becomes particularly evident.
Overall, the Bitcoin options market is becoming an important indicator for trend judgment. If the price further stabilizes above $94,000, $100,000 may no longer be just a psychological barrier but a phased target widely expected by traders at the beginning of 2026.
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