Bitcoin's options market on Deribit — the dominant venue for cryptocurrency options trading, consistently accounting for the vast majority of global BTC and ETH options open interest — has seen heavy concentration at two specific call strikes — $70,000 and $72,000 — where nearly $5 billion in notional open interest has accumulated, accounting for approximately 18% of the exchange's total BTC options open interest of $28 billion.

The call-to-put ratio at both strikes is heavily skewed toward calls, reflecting strong bullish sentiment among options traders. According to data from Laevitas, a crypto derivatives analytics platform, the $70,000 strike currently has roughly 39,000 call contracts open versus approximately 3,800 puts, while the $72,000 strike carries about 37,900 calls against only 1,200 puts. These two contracts are the most popular on the exchange, with each contract representing one BTC.

Call options grant the buyer the right to purchase bitcoin at a predetermined strike price — in this case, $70,000 or $72,000 — by a specified expiration date. They are fundamentally bullish instruments, expressing the view that the underlying price will exceed the strike level. Put options function inversely, giving the buyer the right to sell at a set price, and are typically used to hedge against or speculate on price declines.

Large Trades Drive Concentration

Several large, deliberate trades have contributed to the buildup of open interest at these levels. Laevitas identified a significant bull call spread structure involving the purchase of $70,000 calls paired with the simultaneous sale of $72,000 calls. A bull call spread is designed to profit from a moderate upward move in the underlying asset's price — in this instance, up to $72,000.

"The structure accounts for approximately 49% and 50% of total call open interest at the $70K and $72K strikes, respectively," Laevitas noted.

Other notable trades included calendar spreads, a strategy employed to capitalize on changes in volatility between short- and near-term expirations. Separately, a trader or group of traders purchased a large block of $70,000 calls, paying $3.4 million in premium to establish upside exposure.

CLARITY Act Optimism and Subsequent Pullback

Jimmy Yang, co-founder of Orbit Markets, an institutional digital asset liquidity provider, identified similar trading activity and linked it to optimism surrounding the CLARITY Act — a proposed U.S. bill aimed at establishing a clearer regulatory framework for digital asset markets, including delineating oversight responsibilities between the SEC and CFTC.

"Earlier this month, we saw decent demand for BTC topside calls, with the 31 July $70,000 and $72,000 strikes being particularly popular. A lot of this positioning was driven by expectations that the CLARITY Act could be passed before the end of the month," Yang said.

However, Yang added that over the past 24 hours, the market has dialed back those expectations, prompting the unwinding of some of these bullish positions. The July 31 expiry referenced by Yang is one of Deribit's monthly expiration dates, which tend to see elevated trading activity and open interest buildup.

According to Polymarket, the probability of the CLARITY Act being signed into law in 2026 has dropped to 38% from 51% earlier in the week. This decline followed comments from Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who indicated he does not expect the Senate to pass the bill before adjourning for its August recess, as reported by Fortune.

At the time of reporting, Bitcoin was trading at approximately $63,973 — roughly 9–12% below the $70,000 and $72,000 strikes that dominate the options order book.