Bitcoin (BTC) Options Open Interest Falls 6.08% to $40.2B as Calls Dominate

Options Open Interest Falls 6%

Bitcoin (BTC) options positioning contracted on Friday even as upside bets stayed concentrated in high-strike calls, according to aggregate derivatives data. Open interest across Bitcoin options stood at roughly $40.17 billion as of 09:40 Seoul time, down 6.08% from the prior session's $42.77 billion, while 24-hour turnover ran near $5.37 billion. The longer-dated book leans bullish: calls make up 61.21% of outstanding contracts against 38.79% for puts, though near-term flow was nearly split at 50.33% calls versus 49.67% puts — a picture of traders adding upside exposure while still paying for protection. The heaviest open-interest clusters sit in the $70,000, $85,000 and $90,000 calls expiring September 25 on Deribit, one of the venues featured in our best crypto exchanges guide. By traded volume, the $82,000 calls dated September 25 and September 11 led, followed by $86,000 calls. Shrinking total positions alongside call-heavy flow reads as selective upside betting rather than broad conviction, with hedging demand still visible across the Bitcoin market coverage we track.

Strategy Defends Its Index Seat

Corporate treasury demand remains the other pillar of the tape. Strategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, pushed back publicly against MSCI's proposed eligibility test that would remove “non-operating companies” from global investable indices, arguing that funds tracking the index hold only about 3.1% of its basic float — so the direct impact of exclusion would be limited — and that the “operating company” label has no definition under US GAAP or IFRS. MSCI's consultation closes September 30, with results due October 16 and any changes effective December 1. Separately, CEO Phong Le told Bloomberg TV that selling roughly 7,000 BTC near $60,000-$65,000 to fund preferred dividends and re-buying near $80,000 are consistent under a cost-of-capital framework: the company has cut net debt from about $7 billion to zero, built a roughly $7 billion dollar reserve, and funds purchases through premium MSTR issuance — a playbook closer to a strategic Bitcoin reserve than a passive HODL. In Washington, SEC Chair Paul Atkins urged Congress in a public post to send the CLARITY Act to President Trump before a September 15 Senate procedural vote requiring 60 votes, with Bitcoin oversight at stake at the CFTC.

CLARITY Acthttps://x.com/SECPaulSAtkins/status/2095234145626488912?s=20

Bank of Korea Rate Path

Monetary policy adds a macro overhang for one of the world's denser retail markets. An iM Securities research note argues the Bank of Korea will likely hold its base rate at the October 22 meeting, then deliver another hike to 3.25% on November 26, with room to reach 3.50% in the first half of next year if financial imbalances persist. The central bank already raised rates in July and August, and August consumer inflation ran 3.1% year over year — with underlying price growth estimated near 2.5%, still above the 2% target. Zero-yield assets such as Bitcoin face stiffer competition from cash and bonds when rates stay elevated; for readers sizing that risk, our What is Bitcoin (BTC) guide covers the asset's yield-free mechanics. Rate paths do not set coin prices directly, but they shape won liquidity and risk appetite, as we noted in BTC holding near $80K after the August jobs report.

No Confirmed Altseason Yet

Rotation into alternative tokens remains unconfirmed despite pockets of strength. A CoinMarketCap snapshot put Bitcoin dominance at 59.7%, with CoinGecko's screen showing 57.7% — far from levels that typically accompany a broad rotation, since the standard altseason threshold requires 75 of the top 100 coins to outperform Bitcoin over 90 days, a condition not currently met. Recent movers each ran on idiosyncratic catalysts rather than a shared liquidity wave: BNB Chain launched a 200,000 USDT meme-trading rewards campaign across Flap and Four.meme; Uniswap's v2, v3, v4 and UniswapX serve as the primary automated market makers on Robinhood Chain; and Chainlink was adopted by the same layer 2 for official data feeds and cross-chain oracles. Treating these names as one altseason trade conflates separate stories — exactly the conflation our altcoin hub flags. Until dominance rolls over, single-token catalysts, not a market-wide rotation, remain the working assumption. Readers tracking the market in real time can follow live spot and futures prices on Bitget.

$79.5K Support Is the Line

COINOTAG's proprietary 42-indicator composite S/R scoring engine frames the immediate battleground. Spot trades at $79,566, down 1.73% over 24 hours, sitting directly on the $79,507 support our engine rates at 91/100 — a STRONG confluence of the Ichimoku Tenkan, Fibonacci 0.114, S1 and a high-volume node. Resistance begins at $81,479, scored 74/100 via the Donchian Upper, Fibonacci 0.000 and ATR Upper, with the $79,916 pivot (56/100) as the first test. Positioning leans cautiously long: funding is slightly negative at -0.0020%, open interest stands at $15.92 billion, and the long/short account ratio reads 1.13. With RSI at 66.24, a bearish MACD cross and the Fear & Greed Index at 73 (Greed), holding $79,507 keeps the $81,479 retest in play; losing it opens a slide toward $77,151 (74/100), which would invalidate the bullish setup.