Bitcoin (BTC) futures open interest has reached $5.2 billion on the global derivatives giant Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), $200 million shy of its late October 2021 all-time high.
Open interest in CMEโs Bitcoin futures has grown from $3.63 billion to $5.20 billion over the last 30 days, according to Coinglass data. The open interest surge has run parallel to Bitcoinโs 26% gain over the same time, with Bitcoin currently trading at just over $44,000.
From Oct. 1 to 21, 2021, open interest in CMEโs Bitcoin futures surged from $1.46 billion to $5.45 billion.
The rapid uptick in open interest also coincided with a drastic price jump for Bitcoin, which grew from $45,000 to $66,000.
IG Australia analyst Tony Sycamore told Cointelegraph the open interest uptick shows a renewed interest in Bitcoin, but it doesnโt explain how CME traders are positioned.
Sycamore pointed to CMEโs Nov. 28 report to the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, which showed the โbig playersโ on its platform were sitting net short at the time, with 20,724 short positions compared to 18,979 longs, Sycamore explained.
Until CMEโs latest report comes through on Tuesday, Dec. 12, Sycamore said investors wonโt be able to see exactly how the players at CME are positioned.
โWhat we canโt see right now is whether the big players have gone from a net short to a net long, Sycamore said. โIf we saw the market getting extremely long, youโd be very worried about a snapback. The market that we could see last week was short, so I donโt think we’re at that point yet.โ
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The massive uptick in Bitcoinโs price is being driven by more than just speculation around the SECโs potential approval of a roster of spot ETF products, Sycamore added. A decision on the ETFs is pinned for early January.
โI think thereโs got to be more driving this now. Itโs not just the ETF or halving speculation anymore. This is starting to take on a life of its own.โ
Sycamore said the recent Bitcoin rally could more closely be attributed to cryptoโs relationship with the macro environment, looking to the Federal Reserveโs signal to begin cutting interest rates as a more significant driver of price action.
In November, CME nabbed the top spot in Bitcoin futures open interest from Binance, which many interpreted as a signal that traditional finance institutions were beginning to show a greater appetite for crypto products.
Many analysts believe a spot ETF approval will result in a rapid upward price tick for Bitcoin, but not everyone is convinced the current rally can stick, with some predicting a โsell the newsโ style event in the days and weeks following a potential approval.
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