CME Group says its Bitcoin futures has grown to 1 million contracts

World’s leading derivatives marketplace CME Group has announced that its Micro Bitcoin futures contract has exceeded 1 million contracts.

The development is an indication of high interest in instruments despite the poor performance of Bitcoin (BTC/USD) lately. It’s also an indication that the Bitcoin market is still stable irrespective of the challenges facing the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency.

CME’s Group Global Head of Equity Tim McCourt stated that customers’ demand for Bitcoin futures has continued to grow since it introduced the Micro Bitcoin futures last month.

An increase of 100% from last month

He reiterated,

This micro-sized contact is designed to provide market participants with another tool to hedge their spot Bitcoin price risk.

Additionally, he noted that the contract will enable participants to execute Bitcoin trading strategies in an easily accessible, cost-effective, and efficient way.

The trading volume surge comes a month after CME Group reported that its Bitcoin futures daily volume has exceeded 500,000 contracts. The recent record shows the trading volume has doubled only within a month.

According to Global Head of Digital Sales at ED&F Man Capital Markets, Brooks Dudley, the achievement is a big one, considering that the contract was only launched two months ago.

He added that the industry has seen more institutional volume than anticipated, showing that it is the right time for a smaller Bitcoin contract.

Increased speculation on Bitcoin’s price surge

The past couple of weeks have been quiet for Bitcoin, although the pressure has been more on the Chinese front as the government banned cryptocurrency mining in the country.

More regulators around the world are also looking to increase their crackdown on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin’s trading volume has also been low in recent weeks as traders are eagerly anticipating a further bull movement. More exchanges will see an increase in trading volume if Bitcoin sees a consistent surge in price.