Bullish rally! Traders bet on Bitcoin breaking $100,000 at the start of 2026

In the first week of 2026, the cryptocurrency market is filled with bullish sentiment. As Bitcoin stabilizes above the $90,000 mark, derivatives traders are holding strong expectations for the new year’s market, increasing their bets that Bitcoin will further surge past the $100,000 milestone. According to data from Deribit, the world’s largest cryptocurrency options exchange, since last Friday (the 2nd), demand for Bitcoin call options with a strike price of $100,000 and expiration at the end of January has rapidly increased, indicating that the market is not only optimistic about January’s prospects but also targeting the highly significant “six-figure” level. A call option gives the buyer the right (but not the obligation) to purchase the underlying asset at a predetermined price within a specific timeframe in the future. The surge in demand for the $100,000 strike options suggests that the market is betting Bitcoin’s price will stay above or even break through the six-figure threshold before or at the contract’s expiration. Market maker Wintermute strategist Jasper De Maere noted that recent market funds are still primarily flowing into “roll” operations after contract expiration, but trading volume for the $100,000 call options expiring on January 30 has noticeably increased. According to Amberdata, in the past 24 hours alone, the open interest (OI) for these options has increased by 420 Bitcoin, equivalent to approximately $38.8 million, making it the largest increase among all January call options on the Deribit platform. Furthermore, the current market value of call options betting on Bitcoin breaking through $100,000 has reached as high as $1.45 billion, with the January expiry positions alone accounting for $828 million. This options positioning also aligns with the bullish sentiment that dominated the market throughout 2025. At that time, traders frequently chased high-strike call options in the $100,000 to $140,000 range, reflecting strong confidence in Bitcoin’s medium- to long-term trajectory. In the first five days of 2026, Bitcoin has quietly risen about 5%, and earlier today (the 5th), it even briefly broke through $93,000. QCP Capital pointed out that once Bitcoin surpasses $94,000, demand for these types of call options could heat up again. Currently, the funding rate for Bitcoin perpetual contracts on Deribit has risen above 30%, indicating that traders are in a “Short Gamma” position (holding negative Gamma). QCP Capital notes: