After Bitcoin stopped falling and rebounded, the options market bet heavily on the continuation of the “good start” trend: a return to $100,000

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Bitcoin Options shows that traders are setting their sights on Bitcoin's price returning to the $100,000 level. They are optimistic that investors will switch back to digital assets after the cryptocurrency market crashed in the fourth quarter. The number of unclosed contracts in the Bitcoin options market (that is, the number not combined) is concentrated on contracts that expire on January 30 and have an exercise price of 100,000 US dollars. According to data from Deribit, a derivatives exchange owned by Coinbase Global Inc., the total nominal value of these contracts is the second-largest competitive option contract — more than double the put option with an exercise price of $80,000 and the same expiration date.

Jake Ostrovskis, head of OTC trading at Wintermute, said: “Although the scale is small, the direction is the same, and it continues the high demand for an execution price of $100,000 last week. Currently, there are still some put option premiums on the options curve, but they have declined significantly. As a result, I think the market no longer seems to be expecting the worst downside risks, and the market has stabilized slightly.”

This marked a major shift from the cryptocurrency crash in late 2025, when the spot market continued to sell off while premiums with downside protection in the form of expensive put options contracts soared.

As of press time, Bitcoin's price had risen 3.6% to $94,494, close to its highest point in a month. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization fell 24% in the fourth quarter and closed at $87,648 late last year. The last time its price hit the $100,000 mark was on November 14.

According to data from Wintermute, capital outflows from investment products from Bitcoin and Ethereum, the second-largest token, were reversed, with inflows of US$471 million and US$174 million respectively on January 2, which also contributed to this rebound. The company said this level of demand was last seen in November of last year. Since the cryptocurrency market crashed in early October, such investment products have experienced massive outflows of capital, when around $19 billion of digital assets evaporated within a day.

The rise in the price of Bitcoin also echoes the upward trend in other sectors of the market. For example, the price of precious metals such as gold soared to record highs, and technology stocks also boosted the stock market. Greg Magadini, head of derivatives at Amberdata, said: “This created a great opportunity to buy Bitcoin call options due in 2026, and the market is now finally aware that Bitcoin's performance is lagging behind precious metals.”

In recent months, Bitcoin has tried many times to break through key prices, but all have experienced rapid pullbacks, accompanied by large-scale two-way liquidations. Continued selling pressure and the lack of recovery in cryptocurrency derivatives, which usually inject speculative capital to amplify price fluctuations, have led to a long-term downturn in the cryptocurrency market.

Satraj Bambra, CEO of hybrid exchange Rails, said: “It's not impossible for Bitcoin to challenge $100,000 to $106,000 again; this is common in bear market patterns. If Bitcoin were to turn into a bull market, it would need to recapture and maintain the $106,000 weekly line before it had a chance to hit a new all-time high again.”

Magadini said the options position showed that the next “stop point” was $90,000 after the price would rise rapidly above $105,000.