Bitcoin Futures Open Interest Hits Record High Just Hours before Coinbase Listing on Nasdaq

The direct listing of Coinbase on Nasdaq later today has fueled increase in crypto market activity, with open interest in Bitcoin futures surging to a fresh record high. Glassnode, the cryptocurrency market data aggregator, has stated that Bitcoin open interest has surpassed $27 billion for the foremost time as Bitcoin (BTC) hit a new all-time peak of over $63,000. The landmark indicates that traders are looking higher prices, even though some of them could be hedging against price fluctuation.

The major share of trading activity took place on Binance. Specifically, the platform had recorded $5.20 billion worth trades, representing 20% of overall positions held in the market. It is followed by Bybit with $4.66 billion and OKEX with $3.75 billion. Huobi, CME and FTX posted volumes of about $3 billion.

In spite of the historically high open interest, Bitcoin futures volumes seem to be dropping in the last month, from $117 billion at the end of March 15 to a range of between $50 billion and $75 billion in April as per Skew, the cryptocurrency derivatives data aggregator.

The fading volume indicates that traders have turned increasingly alert about establishing fresh positions as the data of Coinbase listing neared, with a considerable percentage of open interest probably mirroring positions that have been established several weeks and months before.

With respect to the $75 billion worth Bitcoin futures contract that was traded in the past 24 hours, Binance accounts for over one-third of the volume with $26.90 billion, followed by OKEx with $12.70 billion, Huobi with $14.50 billion, and Bybit with $10.60 billion.

On the contrary, open interest in Bitcoin options has fallen after a gargantuan $6 billion worth contracts expired by the end of March. Options volumes have risen in April, with the data indicating pledging of positions by several traders as billions were used to safeguard a plunge below $40,000 a week before.

Derivative traders are not only making bets on Bitcoin but also on Ethereum whose open interest has also surged to historical high of over $8 billion as volumes rose in the past few weeks.
Ethereum based options contracts have also recorded a rise in volume, with open interest hitting 30-day peak of about $3.20 billion. Ether options volumes surged 90%, from $200 million to $380 million.

Nevertheless, several Ether traders seem to be thinking outside Coinbase’s listing this week. For instance, pointing to considerable volume, earlier this month, crypto analyst Cantering Clark has forecast price of over $3,200 before the end of June.