Bitcoin Futures Pass $1B in Open Interest on BitMEX for First Time Since March Crash

Bitcoin futures open interest across all exchanges passed $4 billion Tuesday morning.

AccessTimeIconJul 21, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 9:33 a.m. UTC
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Open interest for bitcoin futures on BitMEX – the largest derivatives exchange by open interest – passed $1 billion Tuesday morning for the first time since the cryptocurrency market crash in March, a sign of life in a very quiet market.

  • Open interest for bitcoin futures across all cryptocurrency exchanges broke above $4 billion for the first time since March, according to data from Skew.
  • Before the March crash, open interest for bitcoin futures on BitMEX was about $1.2 billion.
  • As open interest grew Tuesday morning, bitcoin gained more than 2%, breaking above $9,400, according to Bitstamp.
  • "Open Interest on BitMEX has been climbing steadily, and we’re encouraged to see it surpass the symbolic $1 billion mark again," said Greg Dwyer, head of business development at BitMEX.
  • Bitcoin volatility and trading volumes remain low, however, as traders wait for decisive price movement in either direction.
  • "During this current stretch of relatively low volatility, we’re seeing traders accumulate positions on our platform in readiness for what we believe is likely to be a significant uptick in volatility later in the year," Dwyer told CoinDesk.
Bitcoin futures open interest for top derivative exchanges on July 21
Bitcoin futures open interest for top derivative exchanges on July 21

Update (July 21, 15:26 UTC): This article has been updated with a comment from BitMEX.

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