CME Group Bullish on Bitcoin Despite Pullback in Prices
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group recently stated that customer interest in CME Bitcoin futures remained bullish in Q3 2019 despite the Bitcoin price pullback.
In a tweet shared by the CME Group showed that due to the strong institutional investor demand in CME Bitcoin futures in Q3 2019, with daily open interest of over 4,629 contracts, which has increased 61% compared to Q3 2018. Despite the 25% drop in Bitcoin price this quarter, the open interest in the CME’s contracts was down only 1% from Q2 levels in 2019.
Despite the pullback in bitcoin prices, customer interest in CME Bitcoin futures remained strong during Q3 with daily OI of over 4.6K contracts, up 61% vs Q3 2018. https://t.co/MiMqZ52JmS pic.twitter.com/WiQBA0mK0o
— CMEGroup (@CMEGroup) October 9, 2019
According to the exchange, the average daily volume of contracts during Q2 2019 was 5,534, which was a 10% increase from Q2 2018, totaling 27,670 Bitcoin, equivalent of $289 million. CME said:
“Institutional flow remained strong, with 454 new accounts added, compared with 231 added in the third quarter of 2018.”
50% of the CME’s Bitcoin-futures trading volume in Q3 was outside the US, with 26% from the Asia Pacific region and 21% from Europe and the Middle East.
The CME Group is now facing new competition from Bakkt, by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) which launched its Bitcoin-futures contract in September this year, to allow institutional investors who might want to invest in cryptocurrency.
Image via Bloomberg News