Public interest in Bitcoin futures has risen to new record highs ahead of Coinbase’s April 14 direct listing on the Nasdaq.
Crypto market data aggregator Glassode states that Bitcoin’s public interest exceeded $ 27 billion for the first time as Bitcoin hit a new record high of more than $ 63,000. The milestone suggests that traders may be speculating on higher prices, although some may also fend off incoming volatility.
# Bitcoin Futures Open Interest in major stock exchanges reaches record highs of more than $ 27B if $ BTC hit new ATHs.
Graph: https://t.co/GqgQ98W7Mq pic.twitter.com/KYBQC9WZxC
– glassnode (@glassnode) 13 April 2021
The bulk of trading activity is on Binance, where the $ 5.2 billion in positions account for nearly 20% of all outstanding positions held on the exchange. It is followed by Bybit with $ 4.66 billion, OKEX with $ 3.75 billion, and then Huobi, FTX and CME with about $ 3 billion each.
Despite record open interest, Bitcoin futures appear to have declined over the past month, falling from $ 117 billion from March 15 to between $ 50 billion and $ 75 billion during April, according to cryptocurrency collector Skew.
The declining volume may indicate that traders have become increasingly cautious about opening new positions as the date for listing Coinbase approaches, with a significant portion of the public interest likely to represent positions opened during previous weeks and months is.
Of the $ 75 billion BTC futures that have changed hands over the past 24 hours, Binance accounts for more than one-third of the volume with $ 26.9 billion, followed by Huobi with $ 14.5 billion, OKEx with $ 12 , 7 billion and Bybit with $ 10.6 billion.
By contrast, open interest in Bitcoin options has declined since a $ 6 billion record expired at the end of March. Option volumes increased during April, with data suggesting many traders were hedging their positions as billions were mobilized to protect against a $ 40,000 crash last week.
Bitcoin is not the only market that derivatives traders are speculating about, with open interest in Ethereum futures, which is also above $ 8 billion, while volumes have increased in recent weeks.
Ethereum’s option markets also saw an increase in activity, with open interest rising to near $ 3.2 billion highs in 30-day highs. Ether volumes rose 90% overnight, rising from $ 200 million to $ 380 million.
However, many Ethereum traders seem to be looking beyond the Coinbase listing this week, with analyst Cantering Clark noticing significant volume target prices of more than $ 3,200 earlier this month.