According to Blockworks, CME's cryptocurrency division has achieved its best monthly performance since the launch of Bitcoin futures contracts in 2017. Gio Vicioso, head of crypto at CME, said that CME's futures trading volume exceeds $10 billion per day. Compared with November last year, the trading volume and number of contracts in November this year increased by more than 5 times, and the open interest also hit a new high, averaging more than 166,000 contracts, an increase of 60% from October and 3 times from November 2023. CME's large Bitcoin contracts have attracted more investors, especially retail investors, to turn to CME's micro Bitcoin contracts. In recent weeks, the average daily trading volume of micro contracts has exceeded $1 billion.
Micro bitcoin contracts have an average annual volume of between $200 million and $300 million, accounting for 6% of bitcoin trading. Recently, micro contracts accounted for more than 15% of large bitcoin contracts. Participants are diverse, with a balanced distribution of retail and institutional buyers for micro contracts, and margin is easier to manage. Institutions may be testing new strategies and adjusting risk exposure. As interest increases, volatility in Ethereum and Bitcoin is also rising. Vicioso said this trend will continue. On Friday, CME recorded an all-time high of about 600 large open interest holders.
