The volatility in the price of Bitcoin and the collapse of the crypto industry have made the past two years unbearable for investors. However, the hope of a comeback is increasing as BTC climbs to its highest point in 17 months after sleepless nights. Moreover, there has been a new development along with the increase in institutional demand.
The Future of Cryptocurrencies
Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), a regulated Bitcoin futures exchange, is experiencing a significant increase in trading volume due to the growing institutional demand and accredited investor interest. The volume has increased so much that it has risen to the second place in the list of BTC futures exchanges. In terms of open interest, CME is now just behind Binance, the largest crypto exchange.
CME’s open interest reached $3.58 billion at the beginning of October, doubling compared to the previous week. Surpassing Bybit and OKX in terms of the size of open positions, CME is now just behind Binance with $3.9 billion. This indicates that institutional demand is generating more demand than the biggest exchanges.
If the interest continues to grow, it will not be surprising to quickly surpass Binance as well. Crypto investors have finally seen this development, which is extremely promising for the future of these cryptocurrencies.
Institutional Investors and Crypto
Expectations of the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF and increased volatility have led institutional investors to show more interest in Bitcoin options. If more capital flows into Bitcoin futures, open interest will increase. Naturally, an increase in price is expected. This cycle is causing Bitcoin’s price to sustain higher levels.
CME’s rising OI has not only helped the regulated futures exchange rise to second place among futures crypto exchanges, but also seen cash-settled futures contracts exceed 100,000 BTC in volume.
We extensively covered the recent CoinShares report. Over 90% of the weekly inflows exceeding $300 million went into Bitcoin investment products. At this stage, investors are expecting the continuation of the increase in institutional interest and the start of a bull season with the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF and GBTC conversion. We will see if things will be as easy as they seem, but the current situation indicates so.
