Options Traders Place Record $42.5 Billion Bet on Bitcoin (BTC) Rallying Higher

Options traders have placed a record $42.50 billion worth of bets on Bitcoin’s (BTC) price rising in the coming weeks and months.

Traders are betting that Bitcoin’s price will reach $120,000 and $130,000 by the end of May, and as high as $300,000 by the end of June. The bullish bets come as Bitcoin hits a record high of $111,691.50, rising above the key level of $110,000 for the first time.

The largest cryptocurrency by market value has pulled back a bit and is currently trading at $111,048.00. The new all-time high surpassed Bitcoin’s previous peak of just over $109,000 reached in January on the day of U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Safe Haven?

The new all-time high comes as U.S. Treasury yields spike due to American debt concerns and stocks decline. Traders are betting that Bitcoin has gathering momentum and its price will continue rising in the coming weeks and months.

Options are contracts that give the owner the right but not the obligation to buy or sell an asset at a predetermined price at a later date. A call option is a bet that an asset’s price will rise by a set date, while a put option is a bet that the price will decline.

The current options action related to Bitcoin is almost entirely bullish calls that are bets the price of BTC will rise further from current levels. Bitcoin has gained 13% this year.

Is BTC a Buy?

Most Wall Street firms don’t offer ratings or price targets on Bitcoin, so we’ll look instead at its three-month performance. As one can see in the chart below, the price of BTC has risen 11.74% in the last 12 weeks.