Massive bitcoin call spreads target $72,000 by month end, right when the Fed meets

MarketsMassive bitcoin call spreads target $72,000 by month end, right when the Fed meetsLarge traders are betting on a BTC price rise to $72,000 by the end of the month, latest options market flow suggests.By Omkar Godbole|Edited by Aoyon Ashraf Jul 18, 2026, 2:15 p.m. 2 min readMake preferred on ShareShare this articleCopy linkX iconX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailMake preferred on SummaryShowTraders have bought $2.5 billion in notional bitcoin call spreads on Deribit, targeting $72,000 by July 31. The timing aligns with the Fed’s July 29 interest rate decision, with markets currently favoring a hold. Bitcoin BTC$64,078.72 traders are betting billions that the cryptocurrency's spot price will climb to $72,000 by the month’s end, a timeline that lines up with the July Federal Reserve meeting.They have done so this week with the help of Deribit-listed bitcoin call options, or derivative contracts that pay off when BTC's spot price surges beyond specific price levels by a certain date.According to Deribit, a total of 20,000 contracts of the $70,000 call expiring July 31 were purchased alongside a sale of 20,000 contracts of the $72,000 call of the same expiry. That amounts to $2.5 billion in notional value, the dollar value of 40,000 contracts, each representing 1 bitcoin.This is known as a bull call spread, a strategy initiated when expecting a moderate rise in the price of the underlying asset.Think of it as buying a ticket that pays out if bitcoin rises to $70,000, while selling away the gains above $72,000 to lower the cost of that ticket. The trade-off: a lower entry cost and lower maximum loss if the market stays flat or falls, but at the cost of giving up any gains beyond $72,000."This week we have seen some large blocks in BTC topside call spreads," Jean-David Péquignot, chief commercial officer at Deribit, told CoinDesk.Options flow of this size and repetition often reflects institutional positioning rather than retail activity, given the capital required…

Massive bitcoin call spreads target $72,000 by month end, right when the Fed meets

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