Key Takeaways
- CME’s cash-settled futures contracts recently crossed the historic milestone of 100,000 BTC
- Many observers perceive CME’s rise as a sign of an institutional-led rally in the cryptocurrency market.
CME Group, the regulated Chicago Mercantile Exchange, is making notable strides in the realm of Bitcoin (BTC) futures and perpetual futures exchanges.
A bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) creates publicly tradable securities offering exposure to the price fluctuations of bitcoin futures contracts.
CME’s cash-settled futures contracts recently crossed the historic milestone of 100,000 BTC for the first time on record. Simultaneously, CME’s share in the BTC futures market hit a new all-time high of 25%.
Retail investors have also played a crucial role in this surge. The popularity of futures-based ETFs is evident in the rolling five-day volume of ProShares’ bitcoin futures ETF, which surged by an astounding 420% to $340 million in the past week, as per data from Matrixport. Significantly, the ProShares ETF invests in CME bitcoin futures.
However, not all attribute CME’s rise to institutional interest. André Dragosch, the head of research at Deutsche Digital Assets, suggests that CME’s climb results from unwinding bearish positions on offshore exchanges.
According to Dragosch, while CME’s share in BTC futures open interest may have increased compared to other exchanges, the overall amount of BTC futures and perpetual futures open interest hasn’t seen a significant surge in BTC terms.
This suggests that long futures positions may not be the primary driving force behind the recent surge.
Many observers perceive CME’s ascent as a sign of an institutional-led rally in the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin has seen a 27% increase this month, driven by ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty and optimism regarding spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
CME’s climb in the ranks of the largest bitcoin futures exchanges by open interest is a prominent development. Currently, with a notional open interest (OI) of $3.54 billion, it has ascended from the fourth place to secure the second position, based on data from Coinglass.
However, it still trails the unregulated offshore exchange Binance, which maintains the top spot with an open interest of $3.83 billion, representing an 8% lead over CME.The latest development also comes amid reports that CME group in a bid to expand its India operations, plans to hire 100 employees by March 2024
