CME Group’s cryptocurrency derivatives market saw a sharp rise in trading activity in April, reaching a new average daily volume (ADV) of 183,000 contracts worth $8.9 billion, the company reported.
This shows a 129% jump compared to the same month last year, suggesting a growing institutional interest in the crypto market.
Ether led to growth. CME’s ether futures won contracts from 239% to 14,000, while microether futures rose from 165% to 63,000. Microbitcoin futures have since increased 115% to 78,000 contracts.
CME’s Bitcoin and Ether Futures Contracts have larger concept values, respectively, with 5 BTC and 50 ETH concept values. Micro contracts, on the other hand, allow for more accurate transactions, representing just 0.1 for each cryptocurrency.
Exchange operators had already reported record cryptocurrency derivative volumes in the first quarter of the year. In April, its overall ADV rose 36% year-on-year to 35.9 million contracts.
Ether has risen just 1.1% over the last 30 days, with Bitcoin price rising 15.8% after falling significantly below the wider cryptocurrency market. The broader crypto market measured by the Coindesk 20 (CD20) index saw a 12.1% increase.