BTC breaks through $81k, reaching a new high since the end of January, with the options market betting on further gains.

Deep Tide TechFlow News, May 5th, according to CoinDesk reports, Bitcoin broke $81k during Asian trading hours, reaching the highest level since the end of January, up from $79k at the close of U.S. stock trading on Monday, a weekly increase of 5.3%. Other major cryptocurrencies showed mixed performance: ETH at $2,379, down 0.1% daily, up 4.0% weekly; XRP down 0.9% at $1.40; SOL down 0.9% at $84.84; BNB at $626; DOGE down 1.0% at $0.1117, but its 7-day increase still reached 12.4%, with open interest in futures remaining at a high level for the year.

Nomura’s market maker Laser Digital pointed out in a report that a series of bets on future price increases have recently appeared in the options market. Over the past week, Bitcoin’s volatility remained low, with traders showing limited demand for options protection, but secretly positioning with “call ratio strategies” to place cheap bullish bets. This strategy involves buying slightly profitable call options and selling significantly profitable call options to finance the position, with very low initial costs, suitable for profiting in a slow upward trend rather than a rapid surge.

Laser Digital noted, “If the spot price decisively breaks above $80k, the currently negative BTC risk reversal indicator is expected to turn positive.” The risk reversal indicator is the difference between implied volatilities of at-the-money call and put options; a shift from negative to positive will be the first signal of a shift in options market sentiment from cautious to optimistic.

On the macro front, major central banks maintained interest rates unchanged last week. Strategy will release earnings on Tuesday, and U.S. non-farm payroll data will be announced on Friday. If both surprise with large deviations, they could trigger volatility in BTC.