Bitcoin Nears $80,000 as Calls Dominate Options Market
Bitcoin hit an intraday high of $79,989 on Aug. 24, 2026, as futures open interest approached $58 billion and call options made up about 59% of options open interest.
Bitcoin reached an intraday high of $79,989 around 9 a.m. EDT on Aug. 24, 2026, while futures and options activity increased across major exchanges. Futures open interest climbed toward $58 billion, according to exchange data.
Coinglass data shows Binance held 144,050 BTC in futures open interest, roughly $11.51 billion, followed by CME with 125,950 BTC valued at about $10.07 billion. MEXC recorded about $5.60 billion, Gate $4.75 billion and Bybit $4.64 billion. Binance open interest rose 5.05% over 24 hours, CME gained 3.62%, MEXC increased 4.77% and Bitget rose 4.62%. BingX posted a 103.60% one-day jump to $1.16 billion.
Options markets showed a bullish tilt. Calls accounted for 59.37% of bitcoin options open interest, equal to 294,641.17 BTC, versus 201,606.44 BTC in puts. In the most recent 24-hour period, calls made up 57.50% of options volume and puts 42.50%. Total bitcoin options open interest rose toward $39 billion after hovering near $25 billion earlier in August.
Large bullish strikes held significant open interest. Deribit listed the Sept. 25 $70,000 call as the largest single position at 11,037.4 BTC, and the Dec. 25 $80,000 call at 8,749.3 BTC. Calls with $100,000 and $120,000 strikes were also among the biggest outstanding contracts.
Options tied to BlackRock’s IBIT exchange-traded fund saw heavy call buying. IBIT call volume reached 1.58 million contracts on Wednesday and remained above 1 million contracts in each of the next two sessions. Call skew, a measure of the premium on bullish options versus downside protection, rose 0.05 over three days, a three-day increase that was the largest in at least two years.
Expiration profiles showed concentrations near key price levels. Deribit’s max pain, the strike where the most options would expire worthless, was near $78,000 for the Aug. 25 expiry and moved toward $70,000 for Aug. 28. Binance displayed similar max-pain levels for the same expiries. Dealers who sold calls may hedge by buying IBIT shares or other bitcoin exposure, a process that can add buying pressure as options sellers offset risk; those hedges may be reduced if bitcoin falls and sellers unwind positions.
Traders and market makers focused on price behavior in the $78,000–$80,000 range and on the upcoming options expiries for signs of where leverage and positioning are concentrated.
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