Today’s option order flow highlighted three large IREN $70 put sweep orders expiring on March 20th, 2026. All trades were buys, executed at or above the ask, reflecting strong conviction. At the time of the trade, the contracts traded at prices between $25.50 and $26.30. The disparity between the strike and spot prices deem these trades as deep in the money. Sizes ranged from 440 to 797 contracts, totaling an estimated $4.5 million in premium.
At the time of the trade, total volume reached 2,275 contracts. The day’s trading activity far exceeded the open interest of just 44, resulting in a V/OI ratio above 50. This clearly indicates the establishment of new positioning rather than existing trades being closed. The use of sweep orders further suggests institutional urgency and confidence in IREN put options over the long term.
Volume and Open Interest Data
The IREN $70 puts expiring March 20, 2026 saw a dramatic surge in trading activity on October 7th, 2025. 2,292 contracts traded hands—a sharp increase compared to just 44 the previous trading day. The V/OI ratio above 50 underscores how unusually large this volume was relative to outstanding contracts.
The option price held firm around $26.40, and implied volatility (IV) rose slightly to 122.89%. This suggests strong demand for downside protection or speculative bets. Overall, this pattern signals a significant institutional move toward long-dated exposure in IREN put options.
Trade Side Distribution
The trade side distribution for IREN $70 puts expiring March 20, 2026 reveals a strong buy-side bias. 100% of the volume executed at or above the ask price. Roughly $3.9 million (77%) traded at the ask, while another $1.2 million (23%) traded above the ask. This signals aggressive buyers paying premiums to secure downside exposure.
Notably, no trades occurred at the bid, mid, or below levels. This further underscores clear institutional urgency and conviction behind these put purchases. This pattern strongly suggests that traders are positioning defensively or speculating in IREN put options over the long term.
What’s Happening with IREN
IREN Ltd has seen a surge in growth and investor enthusiasm in recent months. The surge has been driven by its aggressive expansion into AI cloud services and significant deal-making activities. The company secured new multi-year contracts with AI firms for NVIDIA Blackwell GPU deployments. The deals have contributed to a rally in its stock price, which reached a record high of $58.28 and has delivered a 591% return over the past year. IREN has doubled its GPU fleet to about 23,000 units, thanks to the procurement of 12,400 additional NVIDIA and AMD accelerators.
With these expansions, IREN aims to achieve over $500 million in annualized run-rate revenue from its AI cloud unit by Q1 2026. $225 million has already been secured from contracts covering approximately 11,000 GPUs, expected to be operational by the end of 2025. Additionally, the company is rapidly shifting its revenue mix from Bitcoin mining to high-margin AI infrastructure. This diversification has prompted multiple analysts to raise their price targets for IREN, despite some concerns over valuation. IREN’s large-scale data center sites in British Columbia and Texas now boast capacity for over 100,000 GPUs. These are backed by 2,910 MW of secured power, positioning IREN as a major player in the high-performance AI compute market.
About IREN
Iris Energy Ltd (IREN) is a sustainable Bitcoin mining company that focuses on operating high-performance data centers powered primarily by renewable energy sources. Headquartered in Australia, the company designs, builds, and manages infrastructure to support large-scale Bitcoin mining while minimizing its environmental footprint.
Iris Energy distinguishes itself by integrating clean energy from hydro and wind power into its operations, emphasizing both efficiency and sustainability. Beyond mining, the company’s modular data center design positions it to potentially expand into broader high-performance computing (HPC) applications, such as AI and cloud services, leveraging its scalable and environmentally conscious infrastructure model.
Analyst Ratings
| Analyst Firm | Rating | Last Updated |
|---|---|---|
| Market Edge | Long | 05/16/2025 |
| LSEG | Outperform | 10/05/2025 |
| Schwab Equity Ratings | F | 10/06/2025 |
The analyst ratings for Iris Energy Ltd (IREN) show a divided sentiment among major firms. Market Edge maintains a “Long” rating, reflecting a bullish stance on the stock’s long-term potential. LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) recently rated IREN “Outperform”, indicating expectations that it will perform better than the broader market or its peers.
However, Schwab Equity Ratings stands in sharp contrast with a bearish “F” grade as of October 6, 2025, suggesting concerns over near-term fundamentals or volatility. Overall, the ratings reflect a split view between optimism on growth prospects and caution regarding risk exposure in the crypto-mining sector.
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Disclaimer: Options trading involves significant risk and is not suitable for all investors. You may lose the entire investment, and certain strategies may result in losses exceeding the initial amount invested. Past performance does not guarantee future results. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. Always consult a financial or tax advisor before making investment decisions.
