Since at least 2014, Bitcoin derivatives have been available on many cryptocurrency exchanges, but CME is one of the first platforms to provide investors with regulated products when it first launched bitcoin futures contracts in December 2017. Now, it is these products that have causing Bitcoin’s 2017 bull run to light the way for the rest of the market.
Activity on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange has been rising in recent times, to the point that it outgrowing BTC, according to the latest report from Arcane Research. CME is not the only U.S.-provided exchange Bitcoin Bitcoin Futures, with CBOE dropping out in March 2019.
The Intercontinental Exchange platform, Bakkt, is still competing for its position, but its volume is too low to be comparable to CME. CME regularly sees more than 6,000 contracts traded, with each representing 5 Bitcoin while Bakkt’s ATH is only around $ 50 million.
CME bitcoin futures options are offered on CME Globex. Each contract, quoted in U.S. dollars, represents the year bitcoin and is centralized to avoid counterparty risks. CME relies on transaction flow data from several major bitcoin exchanges to accurately track the price of bitcoin.
The volume of transactions and open interest rates for CME Group Bitcoin Futures seem to be close to an all-time high, as data from its firm website shows that 5,328 contracts are of interest.
Because each Bitcoin CME futures represents 5 BTC, at press time worth $ 43,900. In total, 5,328 contracts represent 26,640 bitcoins, worth about $ 233.2 million. This number is higher than any other monthly close CME has reported since Bitcoin Futures were launched in December 2017.
Open Interest, which looks at the number of open positions at a time, is $ 240 million on CME. What’s worth noting about this number is that the last time Bitcoin traded over $ 8,000, back in November, OI fell by $ 100 million.
Volume optimism began on January 3, with Bitcoin rising by $ 700, following the death of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani. Volume increased steadily until January 8, when more than 17,000 contracts were traded; with a BTC price of about $ 8,100 at the time, the volume reached $ 692.5 million. On January 14, when Bitcoin increased 8.74% in one day, more than 14,800 contracts were traded, with the volume closing up to $ 650 million for the second time in two weeks.
CME defeated Bakkt on the first day
On the first trading day, more bitcoin options contracts were traded on CME than on ICE-backed bitcoin trading platform, Bakkt, introduced the bitcoin derivative tool in early December 2019.
CME Group has traded 55 contracts with bitcoin worth about $ 2.1 million while its New York competitor, Bakkt, only saw about $ 1.15 million in options volume. These figures indicate that there is interest among traders for this type of derivative, and we can expect the volume of transactions to increase throughout the year.
Read more:
- CME’s Bitcoin Options Launched, The First Day’s Trading Volume Surpassed Bakkt
- Bitcoin Could Skyrocket 50% To Fill The $ 11,855 CME Gap In The Short-Term