CME Group Reports 129% Surge in Crypto Derivatives Volume for April, Driven by Ether

Overview

CME Group’s cryptocurrency derivatives market saw a notable surge in trading activity in April, achieving an average daily volume (ADV) of 183,000 contracts, which totaled $8.9 billion in notional terms. This represents a 129% increase compared to the same month last year, indicating a growing interest among institutional investors in the cryptocurrency sector.

Key Points

CME’s average daily volume for crypto contracts reached 183,000, a substantial year-over-year increase of 129%.
Ether futures trading rose by 239%, while micro bitcoin contracts experienced a 115% increase.

Ether was the main driver behind this growth, with the ADV for CME’s ether futures rising to 14,000 contracts. Micro contracts for ether increased by 165%, reaching 63,000 contracts, while micro bitcoin futures surged to 78,000 contracts, up 115%.

This growth comes after CME Group reported record cryptocurrency derivatives volumes in the first quarter. The overall ADV for April was reported to be 35.9 million contracts, marking a 36% increase year-over-year.

In contrast to ether’s performance, which saw a marginal rise of 1.1% over the past month, Bitcoin experienced a 15.8% increase. The broader cryptocurrency market, as outlined by the coinDesk 20 index, recorded a 12.1% overall rise.