With Bitcoin (BTC) price sentiment continuing to remain bullish following the uncertainty brought on by the United States presidential election, institutional investors seem to be getting more interested in betting on the markets. In the seven-day period ending on Oct. 27, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, run by Grayscale Investments, saw a record inflow of $215 million (15,907 BTC), which surpassed all of its weekly inflows seen since inception. At the current rate, it is estimated that Grayscale is on track to hold 500,000 BTC by the end of 2020, which is 2.7% of the circulating supply of Bitcoin. By 2021, it …

As votes came in on the night of Nov. 3, the day of the U.S. presidential election, Bitcoin's (BTC) volume soared on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, or CME. "Overnight, before 9:00am NYT over 6,700 Bitcoin futures contracts traded (33,500 equivalent Bitcoin), 75% more than what has been observed YTD [year-to-date] and more than double the volume observed since launch," a CME Group spokesperson told Cointelegraph on Wednesday. 6,700 BTC CME Bitcoin futures contracts traded between 5 PM CST on Nov. 3 and 8 AM CST on Nov. 4. CME Bitcoin futures trade 23 hours per day, between 5 pm and …

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 2% in under an hour in a sharp correction on Nov. 2, catching traders off guard. Coincidentally, the CME Bitcoin futures market opened with a new gap, making $13,100 an area of interest for sellers. Three technicals reasons likely fueled the abrupt decline in the price of Bitcoin: CME gap, major resistance and monthly moving averages (MAs). There are now four CME Bitcoin futures gaps The CME Bitcoin futures market closes during the weekend and on holidays. This means that if BTC sees a large price movement during those days, a gap between …

As the weekend approaches, Bitcoin (BTC) price appears set to close out the month with a remarkably strong performance which has many bulls calling for a new all-time high above $20,000 in the near future. Traders attribute these lofty estimates to the fact that BTC appears to have flipped $12,000 to $12,500 to support and barring some unexpected price implosion, Bitcoin is on the path to painting a beautiful monthly candle. Further ‘bullish’ evidence comes from today’s options and futures expiry which saw $450 million of futures open interest expiring as of Oct.28. According to Cointelegraph contributor Marcel Pechman: “The …

A total of 62K Bitcoin (BTC) options are set to expire this Friday, and this is equivalent to $830 million in open interest. These massive numbers fail to reflect the fact that 58% of these options are now deemed worthless. As we approach the expiry date, call (buy) options above the current level begin to depreciate very fast. It is not worth paying $20 for the opportunity to buy BTC at $14.5K on Friday morning. Therefore, rolling options to the next month is not that helpful. With less than 48 hours to October's expiry, call (buy) options above $14.5K and …

A big Bitcoin (BTC) volatility spike could occur by the month’s end as two major factors come into play. The BTC options market nears a massive $750 million expiration and the CME futures market’s open interest has also soared. When an options expiry nears, holders of options contracts have to adjust their contracts before or right after the expiration. Often times, that could cause volatility in the price of Bitcoin. Monthly close, options expiry, and CME expiration all coincide It is difficult to gauge the volatility coming from Bitcoin options until one to two days before the actual expiration. But, …

The CME Bitcoin futures market overtook Binance Futures to become the second-biggest Bitcoin (BTC) futures exchange by open interest. The data shows that the institutional volume is rapidly gaining a larger share of the cryptocurrency market. On Oct. 10, Skew reported that the CME Bitcoin futures market’s open interest rose sharply by 1,500 contracts. Since then, within three days, the price of BTC surged 9% to over $13,000. The growing open interest of CME’s futures contracts on BTC is likely to have a positive effect on BTC price, particularly as a recent study found that "CME Bitcoin futures contribute more …

On Oct. 14, Wilshire Phoenix investment firm released its Efficient Price Discovery report, which detailed how CME Bitcoin (BTC) futures impact Bitcoin price discovery. The firm concluded that "CME Bitcoin futures contribute more to price discovery than its related spot markets." And the researchers also suggested that: "CME Bitcoin futures have grown to become significant, this is not only demonstrated through trading volume and open interest, but also by influence on spot price formation." Wilshire's analysis correctly states that price discovery in traditional markets is a contested topic. The report also adds that studies on price formation often find that …

According to CME, the amount of Bitcoin (BTC) long contracts held by institutions are at an all-time high. Yet, CME’s most recent Commitment of Trader report shows hedge funds are at a record-high for BTC shorts. There seemingly is a major difference in the perception of Bitcoin’s short to medium-term trend between hedge funds and institutions. Why are hedge funds aggressively shorting Bitcoin but not institutions? Hedge funds typically implement varying strategies to generate returns for investors. Oftentimes, hedge funds will utilize derivatives and employ a more high-risk strategy. In contrast, institutional investors who are allocating a percentage of their …

The price of one actual Bitcoin on the open crypto market, known as spot BTC, fluctuates based on a countless number of factors, such as trading volume, usage and adoption. However, other catalysts affect the asset in a roundabout manner. Cash-settled Bitcoin futures trading products from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange stand as one arguable highly referenced indirect element contributing to Bitcoin’s (BTC) price direction. “The Bitcoin derivative products offered by CME are simply a vehicle for accredited investors to place sophisticated and risk-offsetting trades that would otherwise be inaccessible to them,” Shawn Dexter, a decentralized finance analyst at Quantum Economics …

On Oct. 12 Bitcoin price (BTC) pushed above $11,700 on Binance and data shows trading at derivatives exchanges also began to spike. According to data from Skew, CME Bitcoin futures open interest has started to recover. The term open interest refers to the total amount of long and short contracts open at a given time and it is typically used to gauge trading activity in the futures market. CME Bitcoin futures volume. Source: Skew The daily volume across other institution-focused platforms, including LMAX Digital and Bakkt, also remains high. This suggests that institutional volume is growing in general after BTC’s …

Open interest for Bitcoin options hit their all-time high of $2.14 billion on Sept. 24, a day before a huge quarterly expiry of 89,100 contracts — i.e., 47% of existing options contracts at the time. Options are derivative contracts that give the holder the right (though not an obligation) to purchase or sell an underlying asset at a predetermined price, also known as the “strike price.” Observing the OI trends before every monthly and quarterly expiry, there are spikes just before the date of expiry, and they have been incremental after each expiry, pointing toward the increased liquidity in the …