Bitcoin Futures Market Heats Up: CME Nears the Top With $3.54B!

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has been making remarkable progress in the world of Bitcoin futures and perpetual futures. This recent surge in its notional open interest (OI) has placed it firmly as the second-highest among exchanges offering both standard Bitcoin and perpetual futures.

In this article, we’ll explore CME’s ascent and the factors contributing to its growth, similar to the early stages of the 2020-21 bull market.

CME Nears the Top

CME’s notional open interest (OI) now stands at an impressive $3.54 billion, elevating it to the second position among Bitcoin futures exchanges. It’s a noteworthy leap for CME, which was previously ranked fourth among these exchanges.

Meanwhile, Binance, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange, still claims the top spot with a value of $3.83 billion, which is 8% higher than CME’s OI. The market is abuzz with speculation about the primary driver of CME’s rise, with some attributing it to increased institutional investment.

In the last month, Bitcoin’s price surged by 27%, driven by global issues and growing interest from individual investors.

What’s Causing CME’s Surge?

Smaller investors have also played a pivotal role in this surge, as evidenced by the increased activity in futures-based ETFs. Notably, the ProShares ETF, a leading Bitcoin futures-based ETF, witnessed an astounding 420% surge in its value, reaching $340 million in just the last five days. Notably, this ETF predominantly relies on CME Bitcoin futures.

However, André Dragosch, the head of research at Deutsche Digital Assets, offers an alternative viewpoint. According to Dragosch, CME’s growth is linked to the unwinding of bearish bets on offshore exchanges, implying that CME’s success isn’t solely due to increased demand for Bitcoin futures.

CME’s Milestone

In a previous report from Coinpedia, CME’s Bitcoin futures value has gone past 100,000 BTC for the first time. This growth in OI coincides with a substantial reduction in offshore perpetual open interest.

Meanwhile, Binance saw its value go down by 26,735 BTC, while CME’s value went up by 4,380 BTC. This made CME have 25% of the market, which is the most it’s ever had. It’s getting closer to Binance (Perpetuals + Futures).

At the same time, the price of Bitcoin for one month in the future has gone up by 13%, which is more than Ethereum. This shows that more people want Bitcoin futures, especially the big investors.