Coinbase calls surge as bitcoin rebound draws options traders

Bitcoin’s latest move is pulling attention back to crypto-linked stocks, with Coinbase Global sitting at the center of the options action. For everyday investors, the signal is not that a crypto rally is guaranteed, but that traders are paying up for contracts that benefit if the rebound keeps going.

CNBC reported Tuesday that bitcoin rose to its highest level since mid-June while the S&P 500 had barely changed over the previous five sessions. That split matters because crypto assets can sometimes move on their own cycle, separate from the broader stock market.

Coinbase shares climbed about 11% Tuesday to trade near $178, according to CNBC. The move came after the stock fell below $150 earlier in July, a level CNBC said the shares have tested and held several times since early 2024.

Options traders focus on Coinbase

The most active bets were in call options, contracts that give buyers the right to purchase a stock at a set price before expiration. Calls are often used when traders expect a stock to rise, while puts give buyers the right to sell and are often used to bet on or hedge against declines.

CNBC reported that more than 114,000 Coinbase calls changed hands Tuesday, compared with just under 50,000 puts. More calls were bought than sold, and call buying was more than four times the level of put buying.

By midday Tuesday, more than $100 million in Coinbase options premium had traded, according to data from SpotGamma cited by CNBC. Premium is the price traders pay for an option contract. About $80 million of that activity was tied to calls.

The busiest Coinbase contract by volume was the $190 call expiring Friday, according to CNBC. That contract would need Coinbase shares to rise about 7.5% from the cited level to pay off.

Crypto-linked brokers see similar positioning

Robinhood Markets options showed a similar bias toward upside bets. CNBC reported, citing ThinkOrSwim data, that 170,000 total Robinhood contracts traded Tuesday, including 125,000 calls. Traders bought six times as many calls as puts, according to that data.

Those trades are tied to the same broad idea: brokerage and trading-platform stocks can benefit when crypto prices rise because higher market activity can support trading volumes. That does not mean the stocks will move one-for-one with bitcoin, but traders were positioning as if a crypto recovery could help them.

Options activity around the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, known by its ticker IBIT, also pointed to interest in bitcoin exposure. CNBC reported that more than twice as many IBIT calls were bought as puts. Still, more calls were sold than bought, which CNBC described as a more neutral-to-bullish setup rather than a one-sided bullish signal.

Strategy, the bitcoin treasury company associated with Michael Saylor, also saw call buying. CNBC reported that traders bought twice as many calls as puts in Strategy, whose shares are down more than 75% over the past year.

The takeaway from the options market is narrower than the crypto headlines may suggest. Traders are making short-term bets on a rebound in bitcoin and crypto-linked equities, especially Coinbase, but options flows show positioning, not certainty.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.