Bitcoin's brutal sell-off sparks a flurry of trading in related stocks, including one big bullish bet
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- Bitcoin fell below $60,000 on Friday for the first time since October 2024 and is now down roughly 27% in 2026 and about 50% off its all-time high, even after bouncing back above the $60K mark.
- Strategy (MSTR) saw a trader sell 29,425 125/180-call diagonals, collecting roughly $56M in a bearish setup that profits if MSTR drops and stays below $125 through August 21 expiration.
- Coinbase (COIN) attracted a trader betting about $21M on a rebound via a diagonal spread — selling 10,990 June 18 calls for $4.9M and buying $26M of Aug 21 $160 calls, requiring COIN above $183.40 (~13% higher) for the August leg to pay off.
- iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) ranked among the top 20 most popular tickers in the options market by volume on Monday, while two of the top 15 largest options trades by dollar amount were in Strategy and Coinbase.
- Strategy spooked investors in both the stock and the broader crypto world with its first Bitcoin sales in years, adding to the selling pressure on the bitcoin-treasury model.
- Tom Lee, BitMine chairman and FundStrat head of research, pushed back on the bearish narrative, arguing Bitcoin 'remains the soundest money' and that its proof-of-work architecture's resilience 'has been demonstrated.'
Why it matters: The two marquee trades reveal sharply split conviction at a moment of maximum stress: a $56M bearish credit spread banking on Strategy staying below $125, set against a $21M bullish diagonal betting Coinbase climbs 13% — a divergence that matters because Bitcoin's 50% drawdown and Strategy's own BTC sales are the very catalysts forcing traders to choose sides on the crypto-proxy complex.
