The CME Group cryptocurrency derivative market registered a strong increase in commercial activity in April, reaching a average new daily volume (ADV) of 183,000 contracts worth $ 8.9 billion in notional terms, the firm said.
That marks a 129% leap compared to the same month last year, which suggests a growing institutional interest in cryptographic markets.
Ether led the growth. Ether Futures of CME increased 239% to 14,000 contracts, while Micro Ether’s futures rose 165% to 63,000. Micro Bitcoin Futures continued with a 115% increase to 78,000 contracts.
Bitcoin and Ether Future contracts of the CME have a higher notional value, 5 BTC and 50 eth, respectively. Meanwhile, micro contracts allow a more precise trade, which represent only 0.1 of each cryptocurrency.
The exchange operator had already reported record volumes of cryptocurrency derivatives in the first quarter of the year. For the month of April, its general ADV reached a record of 35.9 million contracts, increasing 36% year after year.
Ether, after having a lower performance significantly in the broader cryptocurrency market, increased only 1.1% in the last 30 days, while the price of Bitcoin increased by 15.8%. The largest cryptographic market, measured through the Coindesk 20 index (CD20), saw an increase of 12.1%.
