The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, or CME, has recorded significant volume for its Bitcoin (BTC) futures trading product over the course of the last 12 months. “More than 2.2+ million contracts were traded in 2020,” a CME representative told Cointelegraph. Each cash-settled Bitcoin futures contract at the CME is worth the dollar value of 5 Bitcoin. The trading hub recorded higher than normal numbers as Bitcoin’s price heated up in December 2020 following a break of its 2017 all-time price high of $19,892 on Dec. 1. “BTC average daily volume (ADV) reached 11,179 contracts (55.9K equivalent bitcoin) in December, up 114% …

Bullish fervor surrounding Ethereum (ETH) intensified on Wednesday, as the second-largest cryptocurrency broke above $1,200 for the first time in three years. The gains were largely driven by a confluence of fundamental factors, including Bitcoin’s parabolic rally, the anticipation of ETH futures contracts and a surging DeFi sector. ETH price exceeds $1,200 Ether’s value peaked at $1,223.84 on Bitstamp, its highest since Jan. 2018 just before the market topped. At press time, ETH was up 8% and trading just above $1,210. The cryptocurrency is up more than 60% over the past week, bringing its total market cap to $135 billion. …

The daily volume of the CME Bitcoin futures market and LMAX achieved a new all-time high on Monday. The data shows that institutional demand for Bitcoin (BTC) is rapidly surging as major public funds continue to accumulate. Institutional appetite for Bitcoin is accelerating According to analysts at Arcane Research, the daily volume of LMAX Digital reached a record-high at $2.62 billion. LMAX is a trading platform that tailors to institutional and accredited investors, unlike retail-focused platforms such as Coinbase and Binance. Arcane Research’s head of research, Bendik Norheim Schei, wrote: “Want another ‘Institutional investors are here’ chart? Here's the daily …

2020 was the most important year for the crypto derivatives market so far. Both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) derivatives steadily grew throughout the year, with their futures and options products available across exchanges such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, OKEx, Deribit and Binance. On Dec. 31, Bitcoin options open interest reached an all-time high of $6.8 billion, which is three times the OI seen 100 days before that, signifying the speed at which the crypto derivatives market is growing amid this bull run. The bull run has led to a lot of new investors entering the market amid the …

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, or CME, recently announced plans to add Ethereum (ETH) futures to its offering — three years after launching Bitcoin (BTC) futures. Market development has impacted the exchange's decision to branch out. “Since we launched the CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate and Real-Time Index in 2018, there has been significant growth in ether transactions, and increased client demand for tools to manage price risk,” a CME representative told Cointelegraph. Similar to CME’s Bitcoin Reference Rate, the CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate and Real-Time Index essentially show ETH’s going market price. “As with any new product or service, we …

Bitcoin price surpassed $20,000 with ease on its third retest, buoyed by a surge in buy volume. Following the breakout, analysts anticipate the dominant cryptocurrency to eventually rise to the mid-$30,000s. However, in the short term, the expectations of a pullback are growing. There are compelling arguments for both short-term bull and bear cases. Traders who are highly optimistic in the near term state that the surge past $20,000 has confirmed a new bull trend. With no technical resistance above it, a continuation of the rally is anticipated. Because there is no historical data to rely on above $20,000, Bitcoin …

Ether (ETH) has followed the breakout above $20,000 for Bitcoin (BTC) on Dec. 16, boosted by some big news from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). The CME just announced that it will be launching Ether futures in 2021. "Based on increasing client demand and robust growth in our Bitcoin futures and options markets, we believe the addition of Ether futures will provide our clients with a valuable tool to trade and hedge this growing cryptocurrency," said Tim McCourt, CME Group global head of equity index and alternative investment products. "Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency by both market capitalization and daily …

A month ago, one would be hard pressed to find any investor who would have expected a $32,000 Bitcoin (BTC) price for January. At the time, a 140% upside was needed from the $13,300 price on Oct. 30 and this seemed quite far fetched. Therefore, the January $32,000 BTC call (buy) options traded at Deribit for a meager $67, or 0.005 BTC in late October. Fast forward to now, and the same call option peaked at $705. That’s an almost 10x gain in less than four weeks. Keep in mind that despite the rally to $19,484, an additional 67% upside …

CME Group has become the world’s largest Bitcoin (BTC) futures market following a surge in open interest over the past month, industry data shows. In a Friday tweet, Arcane Research announced that CME had overtaken OKEx as the world’s largest Bitcoin futures market. Citing data from Skew, a market intelligence firm, Arcane said open interest in CME’s Bitcoin futures contract has reached $1.16 billion. OKEx, meanwhile, registered $1.07 billion. “Institutional investors are here,” Arcane said. CME’s Bitcoin futures market has more than doubled over the past month, with more traders seeking exposure to the flagship cryptocurrency as it surged to …

The Bitcoin (BTC) price failed to blast through the $20,000 level this week, but multiple records related to volume and open interest were made on the way up to $19,484. One notable achievement was the open interest on aggregated futures contracts reaching $7.4 billion at derivatives exchanges. As depicted above, there has been a 110% increase over the past six months, and it is also worth noting that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange now holds over $1.1 billion of these contracts. This data is indisputable evidence of the growing institutional participation in BTC markets. Volume soared to new highs, will BTC …

Within the last hour, the Bitcoin (BTC) price surged through the $16,200 level to secure a new 2020 high at $16,473. The 6.62% move brings the top-ranked digital asset closer to closing a CME gap in the $16,465 to $16,570 zone and a growing number of analysts expect the price to break above the $17,200 level if the CME gap is closed. Despite the excitement surrounding Bitcoin’s surge to a new multi-year high, Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe pointed out that Bitcoin has rapidly ascended to new highs without establishing strong supports. Van de Poppe said: “Many levels beneath …

Bitcoin (BTC) has had a great November so far, and many analysts believe the future remains bright for the top-ranked cryptocurrency. Currently sitting at $16,000, its price has surged by 23% since the start of the month, rallying mostly after the completion of the United States presidential election. Now, Bitcoin spot volume has passed all previous records in 2020, showcasing the growing demand for acquiring BTC. The strong rally to $16,200 led Bitcoin spot volumes to rise by more than 270% in the past month. According to a recent report from Arcane research, the daily volume on Nov. 5 was …