One of the products that have become particularly important to the continued growth of the crypto industry is Bitcoin futures. The derivative product has become one of the most heavily traded crypto-based securities.
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The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) revealed its actual figures with regard to this particular product yesterday. The futures contracts have been traded on the exchange since 2017, and one of the top executives revealed that the total volume of the trades has been pegged at $100 billion.
Tim McCourt, who is the Global Head of Equity Index Alternative Investment Products and Group Managing Director at the exchange, stated, “CME Bitcoin futures have surpassed $100 billion in total notional value traded since their launch in December 2017.” It is an indication of the sort of money that has come into the crypto market and specifically for Bitcoin futures.
Moreover, the CME represents the mainstream financial sector, and such trading volumes indicate that institutional money has come into the sector in a big way over the past few years. For many years, crypto experts have stated that the entry of institutional money could lead to a significant rise in Bitcoin prices, and it remains to be seen how it all pans out in the coming months.
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McCourt also stated that the futures contracts in question have evolved significantly over the past two years, and currently, CME operates one of the most liquid Bitcoin derivatives markets in the world. High liquidity is the sign of a mature market and indicates that the price of a security is now going to change massively if traded frequently. Institutions generally look for such securities, and it is possible that the liquidity in the exchange eventually led to such high volumes of trading over the past two years. The Bitcoin futures market is still new, but it has truly taken off over the past year or so.
Featured image: DepositPhotos © EdZbarzhyvetsky
