In one recent record on Twitter, the CME Group, one of the first companies to offer Bitcoin futures trading, reports that the average daily trading volume grew by 93%, and the total open positions exceeded 2,400 contracts. This demonstrates an increase in this indicator by 58% compared with the first quarter of this year.
Since the creation of the Bitcoin-based futures options in December 2017, when Cboe Global and the CME Group were authorized to offer these investment products, opinions about their success have been mixed.
At the same time, Bitcoin based futures trading faced the same problems as the cryptocurrency markets: indecisiveness of institutional investors, lower prices and market capitalization, and global regulatory uncertainty.
However, despite the dynamics of the cryptocurrency markets in general, the trade in futures based on Bitcoin demonstrates liquidity and increased interest from buyers.
On July 20, CME Group published a comparison of its first and second quarter indicators in Twitter, which demonstrates significant growth in the second quarter.
In a July 15, 2018 press release, the CME Group reported a total international daily average volume of $ 4.2 million in the second quarter of 2018, up 13% from the second quarter of 2017. This indicates that Bitcoin based futures still hold a small share in traditional investment markets but continue to grow.
Cboe Global is an American option exchange which first offered Bitcoin futures. Historically, Cboe has a larger trading volume than the CME Group. According to Cboe's daily market statistics, its open positions of Bitcoin-based futures totaled 4,416, with the trading volume reaching 5,170. On April 25, 2018, Cboe recorded a record of 18,000 contracts.
Cboe also expects its new initiative - the first integrated ETF in Bitcoins - to receive approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A positive SEC decision is likely to have a significant impact on the cryptocurrency markets, given that an additional product will be created for institutional investors. This already can affect the volume of trading in the CME Group.
Futures on the cryptocurrency really start to influence all spheres of traditional financial markets. In July there was an informational resource allover internet telling that rating agencies could downgrade the status of banks engaged in clearing Bitcoin futures. Such agencies assign ratings to banks, reflecting their credit quality and affecting their access to further financing. Banks with a low rating may face a more complex funding process as they need to meet more stringent requirements for collateral.