Institutional investors are flooding the CME Group’s regulated crypto derivatives markets, setting a series of records in ether-linked futures and options. solarium and XRP, CME told CoinDesk on Thursday.
Since October 10, open interest in CME crypto futures and options has increased 27%, a rise the exchange attributes to a shift away from offshore markets following a wave of sell-offs last week.
On Tuesday, open interest in ETH futures reached 48,600 contracts, the highest on record, and SOL and XRP futures also hit all-time highs of 20,700 and 10,100 contracts, respectively.
Options open interest hit $9 billion, another record, underscoring how more and more traders are using CME products to hedge or speculate with regulated tools rather than offshore alternatives. CME Micro Ether futures ranked second in volume on Tuesday, reflecting the broader shift.
“The top 10 [open interest] “Every day was in October demonstrating strong conviction and growing participation in the regulated crypto derivatives market,” a CME spokesperson said, highlighting growing market participation and growing conviction among professional investors.
The trend is based on CME’s third-quarter results, when combined crypto futures and options volume surpassed $900 billion and average daily open interest reached $31.3 billion. In September, notional open interest peaked at $39 billion. More than 1,000 large open interest holders were active during that period, suggesting that the use of these products is expanding beyond a specialized circle of traders.
This growth is not limited to bitcoin or ether. Since their launch earlier this year, CME’s solana and XRP futures have attracted significant attention. Solana futures surpassed $2.1 billion in open interest in September, while XRP reached $1.4 billion.
