Bitcoin may be closing in on a new all-time high after moves in the derivatives market and fresh buying from large holders, according to market watchers and on-chain data.

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Max Keiser, a long-time Bitcoin advocate, pointed to a filing by Nasdaq to increase options limits for BlackRock’s IBIT to 1 million contracts — a jump that represents roughly a 40x expansion from prior levels — as a key development that could remove barriers to bigger institutional flows.

Options Market Expands Significantly

According to Nasdaq paperwork and public commentary, the previous 25,000 contract cap had been seen by some as too small for rising volume.

Market experts argued that earlier limits were “discriminatorily small” and suggested that 400,000 contracts would be a more reasonable baseline given current demand.

Some described the change as a move that could place IBIT into a mega-cap derivatives category, unlocking follow-on effects for how banks and funds structure exposure to bitcoin.

I first explained this in 2017:

Now that BTC derivatives market was just expanded by 40x

New ATH’s are in play.

**November 2, 2017**

Max Keiser first discussed Bitcoin market makers needing to expand their inventory to support higher prices in this X post: “Wall St traders… https://t.co/aBQ5DdSDay

— Max Keiser (@maxkeiser) November 27, 2025

Banks And Market Makers React

Market makers will be able to hedge larger positions without hitting the old size wall, which can lower spreads and deepen available liquidity.

Based on reports, that also means banks can build structured notes that use IBIT as a reference without tripping existing risk caps — and JPMorgan is reportedly preparing Bitcoin-backed structured notes that would track BlackRock IBIT.

Those products could channel steady, institutional flows into the market rather than one-off spikes.

On-Chain Buyers Step In

According to Glassnode’s Accumulation Trend Score by cohort, holders of 10,000 BTC or more have flipped to net accumulation and now show a score of 0.8, signaling strong buying.

The 1,000 to 10,000 BTC group has also turned positive for the first time since September, while the 100 to 1,000 BTC cohort has been in active accumulation since October and continued buying through recent declines. Even retail holders with less than 1 BTC are showing their strongest accumulation since July.

Price Action And Value Zones

Bitcoin’s price behavior supports the buying narrative. The token fell into the low $80,000 area that served as support in May and then climbed back above $90,000 quickly, which many traders took as a sign that the market sees value in the $80,000 zone.

Based on reports, the average cost basis for US spot bitcoin ETFs was near $82,000, and that figure has been cited as a reason institutions found the dip attractive.

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Market Risks And Short-Term Noise

Keiser had warned previously that when size limits blocked hedging, the market would be prone to pullbacks — and some analysts say that is part of the reason for recent volatility.

Expanding the options cap allows volume sellers to enter more smoothly, which could reduce erratic swings but will not erase market risk.

Price spikes are still possible and downside moves remain a real threat if flows slow or macro conditions shift.

Featured image from Gemini, chart from TradingView