Large-scale bullish call spread trades on Deribit bet that Bitcoin will rise to $72k by the end of the month

PANews July 18 news: According to CoinDesk, this week the Deribit exchange saw large-scale bullish spread trades in Bitcoin options. Traders bought 20k call options expiring July 31 with a strike price of $70,000, while simultaneously selling 20k call options with the same expiration date but a strike price of $72,000. In total, 40,000 contracts were traded with an aggregate notional value of about $20k. This is a bullish spread strategy, expecting the Bitcoin price to rise moderately into the $70,000 to $72,000 range. Deribit Chief Business Officer Jean-David Péquignot said he saw multiple large bullish spread trades this week, and such trades often reflect institutions positioning their positions.

The timing is worth noting: the July 31 expiration date falls two days after the July 29 Federal Reserve interest rate decision, suggesting that some large traders expect the Fed meeting to push Bitcoin up to $72,000. Fed funds futures show a 75% to 80% probability that the July meeting will keep interest rates unchanged. June inflation data showed price pressures significantly easing due to a drop in oil prices, but this week the escalation of the conflict between Iran and the U.S. caused oil prices to spike. Some analysts warned that inflation data has lagged behind the latest situation.