Interest in Bitcoin futures contracts growing in 2020

During 2020, interest in Bitcoin futures contracts has grown significantly. A report released by analysis firm Skew shows that the number of open contracts reached $ 235 million by January 17. By comparison, in the first half of December 2019, the value of these contracts was only $ 100 million.

Interest in Bitcoin futures contracts has increased in parallel with the price, confirming an upward trend. Bitcoin dropped close to $ 6,430 in mid-December and rose to a high of $ 9,188 on Sunday. Currently, cryptocurrency is trading around $ 8,600, which represents a 20% increase over the last year.

Bitcoin options have revitalized the futures market

On January 8, CME launched Bitcoin futures options, leading to an increase in trading activity. On the first day of launch, volumes reached $ 2.3 million for options. In the next four days, the number of contracts reached 122, the equivalent of $ 5.3 million.

Overall, the number of futures contracts traded in the first week of 2020 exceeded 17,000.

The institutional interest in the Bitcoin futures market is demonstrated by the volumes of daily transactions. By the end of 2019, for example, the daily volumes of the CME had reached an average value of 6,400 contracts.

“The CME product has evolved over the last two years and is now one of the most liquid bitcoin derivatives listed globally. We have seen strong participation from institutional investors, small traders and other customers who appreciate the transparency, price discovery and risk transfer that only a regulated market such as CME Group can offer, ”

wrote Tim McCour, CME Group’s director in a LinkedIn post in December.

Other exchanges have also seen an increase in activity over the last few months. The total trading volume of futures contracts as a whole exceeded $ 25 billion on January 14, according to Skew.