Call-option volume on BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) hit a record 1.58 million contracts, and stayed above one million for three straight sessions as Bitcoin climbed toward $80,000. The rush came alongside more than $1 billion in fresh IBIT inflows, though public data can't yet confirm dealer hedging is driving the rally.
Bitcoin traders are paying up for upside exposure, and the clearest evidence sits in the options market for BlackRock's largest spot Bitcoin ETF. Call-option volume on the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) reached a record 1.58 million contracts on Aug. 19, according to Goldman Sachs data highlighted by The Kobeissi Letter.
Call Volume Holds Above One Million for Three Days
The surge did not fade after a single session. Independent options data show roughly 1.3 million IBIT calls traded on both Aug. 20 and Aug. 21, keeping volume above one million contracts for three consecutive trading days.
That marks unusually aggressive activity: the ETF's options market had been trading only around 138,000 to 393,000 calls per day during much of the first half of August.
Call Skew Posts Its Sharpest Jump
Volume alone doesn't prove traders are betting outright on higher prices, since calls also feature in hedges and multi-leg strategies. The more revealing signal is skew — how expensive upside options are relative to downside protection.
Goldman's data show IBIT's call skew rising 0.05 over three days, more than triple its average three-day move since January 2025 and the largest increase over that period. The move accompanied a broader rally: Bitcoin crossed $70,000 after the US Treasury expanded planned long-duration bond buybacks, then reached a three-month high of about $79,455 on Aug. 21.
Spot ETF Inflows Add to the Bullish Signal
Cash is entering the underlying ETFs too. US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $517.2 million, $606.3 million and $307.5 million of net inflows from Aug. 19 through Aug. 21. IBIT alone accounted for approximately $1.03 billion across those three sessions, including $503 million on Aug. 20.
BlackRock reported IBIT net assets of about $60.34 billion as of Aug. 24, up from $46.96 billion on Aug. 14, though much of that increase also reflects Bitcoin's own price appreciation.
Heavy call buying can amplify an advance if dealers hedge their exposure by buying IBIT shares or Bitcoin futures as prices rise. But the public data don't reveal enough about dealer positioning to conclude that this is already driving Bitcoin higher. After months of restrained positioning, demand for leveraged Bitcoin upside has returned quickly — and at record scale in IBIT options.
Source: CCN
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