Daily trading of Bitcoin futures contracts in Q2 of 2018 was 93% higher than the previous quarter. That is the claim that has been made by CME Group, one of the world’s leading online platforms for futures and options trading.
The statistic released by CME Group also represents the first ever quarter-on-quarter comparison for Bitcoin futures trading volume, as BTC futures contracts themselves only came to market for the first time in December of 2017.
The growth in interest in BTC futures has been something of a surprise for some market analysts, in light of the wider market conditions for cryptocurrencies in the first half of 2018.
Building Trust
The approval of Bitcoin futures contracts and their later introduction to the markets by the Chicago Board of Exchange late last year was seen as a critical first entry for mainstream traditional finance into the cryptocurrency space.
Whilst BTC futures markets are still relatively limited, some analysts are anticipating an eventual move to options contracts. Whereas futures contracts grant a buyer the right to purchase a commodity at a set price at some point in the future, options contracts offer a similar facility without any engagement on the part of the buyer to follow through on the purchase.
A move by Bitcoin into the options markets will likely be interpreted as a sign of increasing institutional investor trust, and could represent a boon for crypto-currency markets more generally.
“To get to options, however, traders need to see several months of smooth closes in the futures contract,” states Bob Pisani, a CNBC market reporter in his own discussion of potential future developments in Bitcoin derivatives markets.
