Bitcoin options book stays call-heavy even as leverage retreats before July 31 expiry
Deribit data show call contracts dominating Bitcoin's options market despite a $1.08bn drop in open interest, as traders trim leverage but hold bullish bias.
Bitcoin’s options market retained a distinctly bullish skew on Friday even as traders pared back overall exposure, according to data compiled by CoinGlass and reviewed by PoundToken. Total open interest across Bitcoin options fell 3.14% in a single session to $33.20 billion, down from $34.28 billion the day before, yet the composition of that remaining exposure showed little sign of a shift towards defensive positioning.
As of 13:40 UTC on 25 July, call options accounted for 66.24% of outstanding contracts against 33.76% for puts. Trading volume over the preceding 24 hours, which stood at roughly $3.05 billion, showed a similar tilt, with calls representing 55.51% of turnover compared with 44.49% for puts.
What the declining open interest signals
Falling open interest alongside call-dominant positioning is typically read by derivatives desks as a sign of profit-taking or exposure trimming rather than a reversal in sentiment. Traders appear to be reducing overall leverage into the weekend while retaining a constructive medium-term view on Bitcoin’s price trajectory, a pattern consistent with position roll-offs ahead of a major expiry rather than a broad retreat from risk.
The clustering of open interest around specific strikes on Deribit, the dominant venue for Bitcoin options, reinforces that reading. The largest concentrations sat at the $72,000 call and $70,000 call, both expiring 31 July, alongside a $80,000 call expiring 25 December — strikes that traders often treat as potential “magnet levels” as expiry approaches, though actual spot behaviour depends heavily on dealer hedging flows and prevailing volatility.
Hedging activity persists beneath the bullish surface
Turnover data point to a more nuanced picture than headline positioning alone suggests. The most actively traded contract over the past 24 hours was a $75,000 call expiring 7 August, followed by a $68,000 call expiring 31 July. Notably, the third most-traded instrument was a $58,000 put expiring 25 December, indicating that some institutional participants are still buying protection against a deeper drawdown even as near-term flow remains skewed towards upside bets.
That combination — longer-dated call exposure paired with selective use of shorter- and longer-dated puts for downside protection — is characteristic of a market running a two-track strategy rather than a purely directional one. Desks appear to be holding structural upside conviction while hedging tail risk, a posture that has become increasingly common among institutional books navigating elevated macro uncertainty through 2026.
Attention turns to the 31 July expiry
The coming week’s expiry on 31 July is likely to draw closer scrutiny from traders tracking dealer hedging and positioning shifts around the crowded $70,000 and $72,000 strikes. Options data of this kind cannot by themselves forecast spot price direction, but the persistence of call-heavy exposure suggests the market continues to price meaningful probability of a rebound or further gains rather than a decisive pivot towards risk-off positioning.
Read more: Ethereum options book turns defensive as Deribit expiry nears $1,875 max pain
