A recently conducted analytical study showed a decline in trading volumes of Bitcoin futures. However, before the media had time to discuss this study on the dynamics of futures trading in detail and draw conclusions about waning interest in this exchange instrument, the number of futures contracts on the Chicago CME rose sharply, breaking previous records. According to the exchange's internal documents, during the first quarter of 2019, the CME has noted steady growth in client interest in Bitcoin futures. In particular, as the analytical outlet The Block reports, 18.34 thousand contracts were concluded on February 19, which is "the equivalent of 91.69 thousand Bitcoins or $360 million." This not only exceeds the previous record, which had held since November 2018, but is also several times higher than the average number of contracts concluded in the first quarter (23.15 thousand Bitcoins in equivalent).
Moreover, the average number of contracts concluded per day compared to the fourth quarter also grew by 13%, to 4.63 thousand. The CME, which became the second regulated exchange to offer Bitcoin futures in December 2017, immediately after the launch of a similar product on the Chicago CBOE, notes the interest of institutional investors in this instrument — the number of holders of large open positions has remained stable since November (this category includes companies holding open positions amounting to at least 25 Bitcoins). It is worth considering that the CME accounts for a comparatively small part of the existing cryptocurrency derivatives market.
Interest in such instruments indicates that professional traders are seeking to diversify their strategies. In turn, the number of major projects targeting this market segment, such as Bakkt, Nasdaq or ErisX, indicates that their operators are confident that demand will continue to grow. Last year, the CEO of the CME exchange, Terry Duffy, stated that the launch of futures on other cryptocurrencies is not planned for the foreseeable future, and that one still needs to see "how the story with Bitcoin futures develops."
