Dollar-denominated Bitcoin trading is more concentrated during U.S. hours, with CME's Bitcoin and Ethereum futures open interest reaching an all-time high.
Article Author, Source: Jin Shi Data
As we approach 2025, the focus of the cryptocurrency market has returned to the U.S., thanks to Trump's re-election and the continuous expansion of demand for U.S. digital asset funds and derivatives contracts.
Trump's vow to make the U.S. a key player in the cryptocurrency industry sparked a trading frenzy, coupled with the unexpectedly successful launch of the U.S. Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) in 2024, leading to a surge in trading activity.
Thus, the U.S. is increasingly becoming a key player in digital asset liquidity and benchmark pricing, while for part of last year, Asia seemed to be the biggest beneficiary of the Biden administration's crackdown on cryptocurrencies, a policy that Trump is now reversing.
In this historic 12 months, U.S. demand helped Bitcoin break through $100,000 for the first time, and the chart below records the changes in the cryptocurrency market structure.
Trade Transfer
Dollar-denominated Bitcoin trading is more concentrated during U.S. hours.
Data from Kaiko shows that the proportion of daily Bitcoin trading in dollars during U.S. hours has risen from 40% in 2021 to about 53%. CF Benchmarks product director Thomas Erdösi stated that the increasing institutional participation is shifting the 'liquidity dominance' to the U.S.
ETF Trading Volume
The daily trading volume of the U.S. Bitcoin ETF has exceeded $500 billion.
Since its launch in January, the U.S. Bitcoin ETF has accumulated a daily trading volume of over $500 billion, with net inflows of approximately $36 billion. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust is one of the most successful funds ever. Under Trump's leadership, the scale of U.S. crypto ETFs is expected to expand beyond the current focus on Bitcoin and Ethereum products.
Futures Demand
CME's open interest for Bitcoin and Ethereum futures has reached an all-time high.
The open interest for Bitcoin and Ethereum futures hosted by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group (CME) in Chicago has reached an all-time high this year. CME currently ranks first in Bitcoin futures open interest, previously held by the offshore platform Binance Holdings Ltd.
Market Depth
Cryptocurrency market liquidity has returned to levels seen before the FTX disaster.
In 2022, the collapse of the FTX exchange and its sister hedge fund Alameda Research severely harmed liquidity. U.S. ETFs and the optimism triggered by Trump helped reverse the situation.
Kaiko data shows that the cryptocurrency market depth—the ability to absorb relatively large orders without significantly impacting prices—has returned to levels seen before the FTX crisis, compensating for most of the so-called 'Alameda gap'.
