CME Surpasses OKEx As World’s Biggest BTC Futures Market

CME Group has become the world’s biggest BTC futures market ensuing a rapid increase in open interest over the past month, as per the industry data.

In a recent tweet, Arcane Research declared that CME had outdone OKEx as the world’s principal Bitcoin futures market. Referring to data from Skew, a market intelligence firm, Arcane mentioned that the open interest in CME’s BTC futures contract has touched over a billion dollars. Meanwhile, OKEx registered a bit less than that.

Arcane mentioned,

“Institutional investors are here.”

It is to be noted that CME’s BTC futures market has more than doubled over the previous month, with more traders looking for exposure to the flagship digital asset as it rushed to near all-time highs. Furthermore, Futures trading can occasionally summon substantial volatility, particularly as expiry approaches, as contract holders fine-tune their positions before that date. Its November futures contract, BTCX20, expired on Friday.

Digital asset exchanges Binance and Huobi have also appeared as key futures players. On the basis of open interest, they are the 3rd and 4th largest Bitcoin futures platforms, respectively.
Another crypto exchange, Bybit also appeared on Arcane’s list. The exchange recently declared that it will soon initiate a quarterly BTC futures contract.

It is to be noted that the futures market is a significant bellwether for BTC espousal because it signifies that conventional investors are getting into the mix. While the 2017 bull market was driven mainly by retail traders, the existing uptrend has been powered by profound institutional players.