Cash-Margined Bitcoin Futures are More Popular Than Ever as Open Interest Reaches New Highs
Cash-margined bitcoin (BTC) futures contracts reached an all-time high open interest of 384,000 BTC ($25.5 billion), surpassing the previous peak of 376,000 BTC in November 2022. CME futures represented 40% of this total. Over the past two years, cash-margined open interest has risen, while crypto-margined open interest has declined from 210,000 BTC to 87,000 BTC, now making up 18.2% of total open interest of 478,000 BTC. Cash-margined contracts use stablecoins or dollars as collateral, making them less volatile and more resilient to forced liquidations. This trend indicates increasing institutional activity in the derivatives market, with CME capturing over 30% market share in October 2023, surpassing Binance. The growth is attributed to traders anticipating the launch of U.S.-based spot ETFs in January.
