coinspress.com
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has shown significant growth in notional open interest, hitting $3.57 billion, securing its place as the second-largest platform for standard Bitcoin and perpetual futures trading.
This surge reflects the enthusiasm reminiscent of the 2020-2021 bullish market. Coinglass data illustrates CME’s rise from the fourth-largest to the second-largest Bitcoin futures exchange within weeks. Nevertheless, Binance, an unregulated offshore exchange, maintains dominance with a slightly higher notional open interest of $3.85 billion.
CME achieved a milestone by surpassing 100,000 BTC in open interest for its cash-settled futures contracts, while its market share in the Bitcoin futures sector peaked at 25%. Offering standard Bitcoin futures, micro contracts for Bitcoin and ether (with sizes of one-tenth of 1 BTC or 1 ETH), CME stands out amidst offshore exchanges largely concentrated in perpetual futures, which have no expiration date.
The surge in Bitcoin’s value, up 27%, owes itself to macroeconomic uncertainties and optimism surrounding spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Retail investors actively partake in this surge, indicated by a 420% increase in the rolling five-day volume of ProShares’ primary Bitcoin futures ETF, mainly investing in CME Bitcoin futures.
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Though CME’s share in Bitcoin futures open interest has increased, the overall Bitcoin futures and perpetual open interest in Bitcoin terms hasn’t significantly risen, potentially indicating the recent price surge’s association with a short squeeze and a decrease in total open interest.
Market anticipation heightens regarding the potential approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF, playing a significant role in boosting Bitcoin’s price. Earlier, Bitcoin rallied close to $35,000, primarily due to market speculation around the spot ETF.