The trading volume of CME’s bitcoin options is soaring as institutional investors position for potential significant price moves in the days following the U.S. election on November 5. According to Arbelos Markets CEO Joshua Lim, institutional trades are showing strong bullish sentiment, with some betting that bitcoin’s price could surge beyond $85,000 by late November.
Lim pointed out a significant trade involving 3,050 bitcoin units in options set to expire on November 29 at an $85,000 strike price. This trade, with a $4.6 million premium and a $42 million delta, suggests a confident outlook among institutional traders that bitcoin’s price will surpass the $85,000 level by the end of November.
“CME bitcoin options have seen some of their highest volume days yet ahead of the election, with bullish positions becoming increasingly prominent,” Lim stated, noting the potential for growing liquidity as more institutions participate in crypto derivatives markets.
Trump Gains Edge in Betting Markets
Bitcoin is also becoming a hedge against inflation and a proxy for the upcoming election, especially in scenarios favoring Donald Trump. Currently, Trump holds a 64.5% lead over Vice President Kamala Harris’s 35.4% on blockchain-based betting platform Polymarket. Lim noted, “The options market is pricing a 7% move on election day, though this may be conservative given bitcoin’s volatility.”
In parallel, the futures market reflects strong interest, with open interest in bitcoin perpetual contracts hitting annual highs. The open interest-weighted futures funding rate has spiked to 0.0153% in the past 24 hours, a level last seen in June, indicating continued bullish positioning among traders.
At present, bitcoin is trading at $72,500, while the global cryptocurrency market cap has seen a slight dip, down 1.9% to $2.54 trillion in the past 24 hours, according to Coinglass data.
