The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Bitcoin (BTC) futures are priced at a premium, suggesting that US-based market participants are optimistic about crypto, according to the analytics firm IntoTheBlock.
Lucas Outumuro, IntoTheBlock’s head of research, notes in a new analysis that BTC futures on the CME have been consistently higher than on international futures exchanges since BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, filed for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) last month.
Explains the analyst,
“All major futures contracts expiring at the end of the quarter are currently in contango, being priced at a premium relative to spot markets. This premium has also been increasing (typically it reduces as the expiration date approaches), showing strong optimism in the market.”
Outumuro also notes that the CME BTC futures price premium increased following Thursday’s groundbreaking ruling in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) lawsuit against Ripple, suggesting “American investors were particularly bullish” following the legal development.
IntoTheBlock says that the percentage of addresses losing money on Bitcoin dropped down to just 20% at one point on Friday, the lowest level since April 2022, when BTC was priced at $44,000.
The analytics firm also finds that 73% of Bitcoin holders are in the green while about 6% are breaking even.
At time of writing, Bitcoin is trading for $30,350.
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