CME Reports Surge in BTC Futures Volume As Underlying Price Tests $8k

[Henrikbliss]

After several months of disappointing low levels, Bitcoin is beginning to show major signs of recovery.

The biggest crypto asset spiked to $8,000 handle for the first time since May 23 before retreating to $7.949 by the time of writing. The cryptocurrency gained 3.6% on a daily basis amid growing bullish momentum, supported both by technical and fundamental factors.

As Bitzamp reported yesterday, the last two weeks of BTC rallies have taken above 21-DMAs, the bullish sentiments are intensified especially from the recent lows of $5,755 levels.

The recent surge could be attributed to a growing anticipation of Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF). The US Securities and Exchange Commission SEC has recently announced that they propose to ease ETF approval rules, especially for low-risk ones. This would allow companies to issue “plain vanilla versions” of the ETF without seeking approval.

Consequently, BTC ETF has been one significant aspect that would, most probably, cause the inflow of big institutional funds into the cryptocurrency market. While there may be abundant BTC to invest in, the institutional money inflow in a fully legalized asset like an ETF would be an indication of authenticity. Some traditional finance firms have made forays into Bitcoin, but those were mostly small-scale test investments.

CME Group, the first company to offer Bitcoin futures trading, has recently reported that the average daily trading volumes are up 93% and open interest surpassed 2,400 contracts, a 58% increase. While there have been heated debates concerning the real impact of Futures trading on the cryptocurrency market.

One cannot rule out the fact that upon the introduction of BTC Futures in December last year, the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies surged to $900 billion as BTC reached an all-time high of 20k. Moreover, Bitcoin futures trading are cash-settled and there is no physical delivery of the underlying asset.

Source: https://news.bitzamp.com/cme-group-reports-significant-surge-in-btc-futures-volume-as-price-tests-8k-for-first-time-in-2-months/