CME Group has change into the world’s largest Bitcoin (BTC) futures market following a surge in open curiosity over the previous month, business knowledge exhibits. 

In a Friday tweet, Arcane Analysis announced that CME had overtaken OKEx because the world’s largest Bitcoin futures market. Citing knowledge from Skew, a market intelligence agency, Arcane mentioned open curiosity in CME’s Bitcoin futures contract has reached $1.16 billion. OKEx, in the meantime, registered $1.07 billion.

“Institutional buyers are right here,” Arcane mentioned.

CME’s Bitcoin futures market has greater than doubled over the previous month, with extra merchants searching for publicity to the flagship cryptocurrency because it surged to close all-time highs. Futures buying and selling can typically invoke heavy volatility, particularly as expiry nears, as contract holders modify their positions earlier than that date.

Its November futures contract, BTCX20, expires on Friday.

Cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Huobi have additionally emerged as main futures gamers. Based mostly on open curiosity, they’re the third- and fourth-largest BTC futures platforms, respectively.

Bybit, which additionally appeared on Arcane’s listing, introduced earlier this week that it’ll quickly launch a quarterly Bitcoin futures contract.

The futures market is a crucial bellwether for Bitcoin adoption as a result of it means conventional buyers are moving into the combo. Whereas the 2017 bull market was pushed largely by retail merchants, the present uptrend has been fueled by deeper institutional pockets.

CME, specifically, is turning into important to Bitcoin worth discovery, based on funding supervisor Wilshire Phoenix.

CME’s significance is “not solely demonstrated by way of buying and selling quantity and open curiosity,” Wilshire said, “but in addition by affect on spot worth formation.

Bitcoin worth is presently consolidating within the $16,500 vary following a heavy Thanksgiving day sell-off.