The Million Dollar Bet that BTC will Triple in 2018

A total whale of a trader has just bet one million dollars that bitcoin will top $50,000 next year.

The transaction was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. LedgerX's online records showed 275 call options expiring on the 29th of December 2018, were bought in Wednesday's trading session at a volume-weighted average price of $3,600. So at that price 1 million dollars was actually spent on the bet!

This gives the whale-trader the option to buy bitcoin at $50,000 in the roughly next 12 months, implying expectations that the digital currency will soar beyond that price. Although they'll lose the bet if bitcoin doesn't reach $50,000 in that time period, they'll absolutely reap profits if it climbs well above that mark! With bitcoin trading near $16,700 Thursday, that means the call options trader or traders expect the digital currency to soar more than 200 percent in the coming 12 months. Bitcoin is up about 1,900 percent over the last 12 months, according to Coinbase.

Startup LedgerX is less than five years old and launched bitcoin options trading for institutional clients in October.