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The world’s largest options and futures exchange, operated by CME Group, reported record volume for its Bitcoin (BTC) futures contracts on May 13 as the explosive cryptocurrency bull run continued to surge.
CME and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) were the first providers of Bitcoin futures contracts when they launched in December 2017.
Since its launch, CME Group’s last record was recorded on April 4 of this year with 22,500 contracts. Their new record on May 13 reached 33,700 contracts.
CME Bitcoin futures reached an all-time record high of 33.7K contracts on May 13 (168K equivalent bitcoin), up nearly 50% from the last record of 22.5K contracts on April 4. See how market participants are using $BTC to manage uncertainty: https://t.co/hDgraMj5pe pic.twitter.com/ct1xkjoJDF
— CMEGroup (@CMEGroup) May 13, 2019
In total, these record-breaking contracts represent an equivalent value of 168,000 BTC ($1.35 billion), which is almost a 50% increase from the previous record on April 4 that was equivalent to 112,700 BTC (currently $909.2 million).
Despite Record BTC Futures Volume, CME Group’s Net Income Falls 17%
Despite breaking all-time highs for Bitcoin futures contracts, CME Group said in a press release that their net income has fallen 17% in the first quarter. Their revenues stood at $487 million, compared with $599 million this time a year ago.
However, the CME Group broke last month’s record on May 13, and if Bitcoin continues to rally higher in Q2, it’s very likely the organization’s net revenue will be up from that of last year.
Apart from the CME breaking volume records, Bitcoin’s own trading volumes similarily set two consecutive daily trading volume records this week.
Highlighting this achievement is Anthony Pompliano from Morgan Creek Digital, in the following enthusiastic tweet:
Bitcoin has had its largest volume of all-time two days in a row (h/t @krugermacro)
THE BULLS ARE BACK! 🔥
— Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) May 13, 2019
Do you think Bitcoin’s bullish run will last or at least sustain the prices reached so far? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.