CME Crypto Futures Hit Record Activity In The Bear Market

The CME Crypto futures hit record activity in the bear market and remained elevated in the second quarter with the daily open interest hitting a new high so let’s read more today in our latest cryptocurrency news.

Bitcoin and Ethereum derivatives contracts offered by the CME Group saw record activity in the second quarter and offered tangible evidence that professional traders are accessing digital assets in the bear market. The average daily open interest on CME crypto futures products reached 106,200 contracts in the second quarter the highest on record. In the futures markets, OI reflected the total number of derivatives contracts that haven’t been settled. In terms of average daily trading volume, BTC futures saw 10,700 contracts traded in the second quarter and ether’s daily volume was 6100 contracts.

During the week of June 21 and large open interest holders accessed the CME Group’s crypto products reaching a new high of 404 signalings growing interest from the large sophisticated investors and the institutional ones. Despite the extreme market volatility from Bitcoin and Ether the CME crypto futures hit a record high and there was a haven of consistent liquditiy with continued volume and the open interest growth for investors as the CME global head of Equity Tim McCourt added:

“The variety of products, including the smaller sized micro bitcoin and micro ether futures and options, offers enhanced flexibility and trading precision for a range of market participants, including large institutions as well as sophisticated, active traders.”

In 2017, CME Group became the second derivative marketplace to start offering BTC futures contracts trailing the cross-town rival CBOE Global Markets by a week, and by the end of 2020, CME’s cumulative BTC futures volumes reached $100 billion. The derivatives exchange went on to launch several crypto derivatives products like micro-sized Bitcoin and Ether options. The contracts are 10% of the size of the respective assets giving the traders some more opportunities to hedge the exposure. The CME revealed that its Micro BTC product saw an average daily volume of 17,400 contracts during the second quarter. The daily volume for the ETH-equivalent micro contracts was 21,300.

As recently reported, CME added reference rates for Cardano, Solana, and Polygon but also it will offer reference rates for 11 altcoins as a prerequisite for ETFs and derivatives.