Bitcoin trading firm proposes a bullish strategy featuring a key financing twist.

Quant-focused trading firm TDX Strategies has proposed a bullish bitcoin options trade that uses a financing twist to reduce upfront costs while maintaining exposure to a potential price rally.

The Hong Kong–based firm outlined the strategy to clients on Wednesday, recommending a bullish risk reversal designed to build upside exposure through March and April expiries while limiting the initial capital outlay.

The structure involves selling a put option—effectively providing downside insurance to the market—and using the premium received from that sale to fund the purchase of a call option. By collecting income from the put sale and redeploying it into a bullish call, traders can create a position that requires little or no upfront payment while still benefiting from a potential rise in Bitcoin.

The approach reflects a broader shift among professional traders toward more complex, options-based strategies. Rather than simply buying spot bitcoin or using leveraged long positions, many market participants are increasingly using derivatives to stretch capital efficiency and fine-tune their exposure to market risk.

A call option gives the buyer the right to purchase an asset at a predetermined price—known as the strike—before a specified expiration date. If the market price rises above the strike, the buyer can profit from the difference; if it does not, the option typically expires worthless and the buyer only loses the premium paid.

A put option, by contrast, provides protection against downside risk. It allows the buyer to sell the asset at a specified strike price before expiration. If the market falls below that level, the put gains value; if not, the premium paid for the contract is lost.

In TDX’s recommended structure, the trader sells an out-of-the-money (OTM) put—an option with a strike below the current market price—and collects the premium. That income is then used to purchase an OTM call, which has a strike above the current price. This combination creates a low-cost bullish setup compared with simply buying a call outright.

“The anticipated confirmation of Mojtaba Khamenei as Supreme Leader introduces an added element of risk of immediate retaliatory escalation, however, we view any headline-driven market jitters as a tactical entry point,” TDX said in a market note.

The firm added that it aims to “capitalize on temporary weakness to build upside exposure in March and April [expiry], favoring bullish risk reversals funded by selling OTM puts.”

Still, the strategy carries meaningful risks. By selling an out-of-the-money put, the trader commits to buying bitcoin at the strike price if the market falls below that level. In a sharp downturn, this could force the trader to purchase the asset at a price above the prevailing market rate.

Meanwhile, the call option purchased in the strategy may expire worthless if bitcoin fails to rally above the strike price before expiration.

In practice, the trade exchanges lower upfront cost for a more asymmetric payoff profile—offering participation in a potential upside move while exposing the trader to downside risk if the market drops significantly below the put strike.

Because of that risk structure, the position requires careful monitoring and is generally better suited for experienced traders with a solid understanding of options markets rather than new investors with limited capital.