We are less than two months into 2019 and the CME Group is reporting a record number of Bitcoin (BTC) futures contracts traded in the first quarter of 2019. This is according to an email reviewed by the team at The Block. The email is from a CME representative and it stated that February 19th saw a record number of BTC futures contracts trade on that individual day.

The email stated that:

Yesterday [Feb 19th] set a new record with 18,338 contracts traded. This is equivalent to 91,690 bitcoin or $360MN. Q1 2019 is off to a strong start, ADV has improved to 4,630 contracts (23,150 equivalent bitcoin), up ~13% from Q4 2018 while [open interest] rose to 4,076 contracts, an improvement of 21.5% over Q4 2018.

Increased Interest by Institutional Clients

Additionally, the email mentioned that Institutional interest in the BTC futures contracts has steadily increased since last November.

Institutional interest has gradually risen and the number of LOIHs (Large Open Interest Holders) has been holding steady around 43 holders since November. A LOIH is an entity that holds at least 25 BTC contracts.

About the BTC Futures Contracts Offered by the CME Group

The CME Group has had over 2,100 accounts trading the futures contracts since their launch on the 17th of December, 2017. The investment product provides an opportunity for firms and investors with an account with a registered futures broker, to bet on the future price of Bitcoin. The contracts are based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate (BRR), which aggregates bitcoin trading activity across major bitcoin spot exchanges between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. London time.

The contract unit is for 5 BTC and trading is terminated on the last Friday of the contract month. Settlement is usually the following Wednesday. For the month of February, the CME Bitcoin futures contracts expire tomorrow, the 22nd of February.

What are your thoughts on the increase in trade volume of the CME Bitcoin Futures contracts seen during the first quarter of 2019? Is this a clear indicator that institutional investors are warming up to Bitcoin? Please let us know in the comment section below.

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of Ethereum World News or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.