Dollar-denominated Bitcoin trading is more concentrated in U.S. hours, with CME's Bitcoin and Ethereum futures open interest reaching an all-time high.
Article author, source: Jinshi Data
With the approach of 2025, the focus of the cryptocurrency market has returned to the U.S., thanks to Trump's re-election and the expanding 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 ignited a trading frenzy, along with the unexpectedly successful launch of U.S. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) starting in 2024, triggering a surge in trading activity.
As a result, the U.S. is increasingly becoming key for 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, which Trump is now reversing.
In these historic 12 months, the demand in the U.S. helped Bitcoin break through $100,000 for the first time, and the chart below records the changes in the cryptocurrency market structure.
Trading shift
Dollar-denominated Bitcoin trading is more concentrated in U.S. hours.
Data from Kaiko shows that the proportion of dollar-denominated Bitcoin daily trades conducted during U.S. hours has risen from 40% in 2021 to about 53%. CF Benchmarks product director Thomas Erdösi said that the increasing institutional participation has shifted 'liquidity dominance' to the U.S.
ETF trading volume
U.S. Bitcoin ETF daily trading volume has exceeded $500 billion.
Since the launch of the U.S. Bitcoin ETF in January, the cumulative daily trading volume has exceeded $500 billion, with net inflows of about $36 billion. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust is one of the most successful funds in history. Under Trump's leadership, the scale of U.S. crypto ETFs is expected to expand beyond the current products limited to Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Futures demand
CME's Bitcoin and Ethereum futures open interest has reached an all-time high.
The open interest of Bitcoin and Ethereum futures held by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group (CME) in Chicago reached an all-time high this year. CME currently ranks first in Bitcoin futures open interest, while the previous offshore platform Binance Holdings Ltd. was the market leader.
Market depth
Cryptocurrency market liquidity has returned to levels 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 sparked by Trump helped turn the situation around.
Data from Kaiko shows that cryptocurrency market depth—the ability to absorb relatively large orders without causing excessive price impact—has returned to levels before the FTX crisis, filling most of the so-called 'Alameda gap.'
