Options Traders Are Setting Their Sights on Bitcoin at $50,000 by January

  • Largest open interest is on Jan. 26 call options, Deribit says
  • Bitcoin has surged more than 60% since the middle of October

Bitcoin has surged more than 60% since the middle of October.

Photographer: Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images
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Options traders are loading up on bets that Bitcoin will surge to $50,000 by January, when many market observers expect the SEC to finally allow exchange-traded funds to directly hold the cryptocurrency.

That’s the price level with the largest open interest, or the total amount of outstanding contracts, to buy Bitcoin with call options that expire Jan. 26, according to data compiled by Deribit, the largest crypto options exchange. Calls give the buyer of the contracts the right to purchase the underlying asset at a specific price within a set time period.