Volume of Crypto Futures Trades Is Catching Up to Spot Trading

Crypto futures trading volume now reportedly amounts to nearly 50% of the value of spot trading on crypto markets, according to Bloomberg.

13 exchanges analyzed

Citing volume data from 13 major global crypto exchanges, Bloomberg reported on a massive growth of cryptocurrency futures markets Oct. 31.

The analyzed exchanges include institutional digital asset platform Bakkt, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group (CME), Binance, Bitfinex, the Huobi Derivative Market (DM), Kraken, FTX, Bitz, Deribit, CoinFlex, Bybit, OKEx and BitMEX.

First ever Bitcoin futures launched in late 2017

Spot trading is simply buying or selling a commodity or, in this case, a crypto asset at the moment of the trade. Prior to the launch of the first Bitcoin (BTC) futures platform back in 2017, spot trading was the principal option available for crypto trades. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) launched the first trading of BTC-based futures contracts on Dec. 11, 2017, just a week before the launch of a similar product by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

The Bloomberg report follows a new Bitcoin futures volumes record on major digital asset platform Bakkt, which launched its service on Sept. 22. On Oct. 26, Bakkt traded 1,183 Bitcoin futures contracts worth of $11 million after hitting a previous all time record of 441 Bitcoin futures on Oct. 23.

On Oct. 29, OKEx, the world’s 5th-largest crypto exchange by trading volume, announced plans to start trading Tether (USDT) futures.