The seemingly reversal in the fortunes of Bitcoin is reflected in the derivatives market as well. Bitcoin futures recorded the highest-ever trading volume in CBOE (Chicago Board Options Exchange), the derivative exchange which introduced Bitcoin futures early December in US. It can be remembered that soon after Bitcoin futures trading was launched, the servers broke down at that time due to huge inflow of traffic.
If the CBOE data is to be believed, a total of 19,000 bitcoin futures contracts, with different expiry dates were traded on CBOE on Wednesday. In particular, 18,210 Bitcoin futures contract with nearby (May) expiry were traded.
Additionally, 703 Bitcoin futures contracts with June expiry date and 87 Bitcoin futures contracts with a July expiry date were traded as well. No contracts expiring in August were traded on Wednesday. The increase was gradual. On Monday, a total of 3,881 contracts was traded. The volume increased to 6,653 contracts the next day. This was followed by the record-breaking trading volume on Wednesday.
Wednesday’s traded volume broke the previous record of 15,500 Bitcoin futures contracts traded on January 17. Bitcoin started sliding soon after futures trading began in CBOE. The first contract settled at $10,900, giving a pile of cash for short-sellers. The reverse may happen this month.
CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange), which also offers Bitcoin futures contracts, saw the trading volume double to about 11,000 contracts on Tuesday.
CBOE Options Institute senior instructor Kevin Davitt was quoted,
“We will certainly be watching to see if this is a volume aberration or if more and more institutional types are moving into crypto,” adding that “the overall bullish sentiment continues in XBT Bitcoin Futures.”
The increase in the trading activity indicates that investors and traders in other financial markets are gradually turning towards cryptocurrencies.
KryptoMoney.com publishes latest news and updates about Bitcoin, Blockchain Technology ,Cryptocurrencies and upcoming ICO’s.
Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We try our best to keep things fair and balanced, in order to help you make the best choice for you.
