CME bitcoin futures trading clocks in a number of new records in May

Exchanges • May 21, 2019, 7:03PM EDT

UPDATED: May 22, 2019, 2:29AM EDT

CME Group, the exchange giant behind one of the markets for bitcoin futures, continues to clock in new records for its contract tied to the largest digital currency.

"May is shaping up to be the strongest month ever for CME Bitcoin Futures," the Chicago-based firm said in an external email sent out to clients on Tuesday.

Specifically, the firm saw a record trading day on May 13 with 33,677 contracts having traded hands, the equivalent of $1.3 billion worth of bitcoin. In total, the average daily volume hit a record of 14,000 contracts in the month of May.

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"Since launch in December 2017 we have traded over 1.6MM contracts (+8MM equivalent bitcoin) representing over $50BN in notional value ($4.2BN per month)," the firm said (emphasis is their own).

In addition, the number of accounts trading bitcoin futures on CME has grown to an all time high above 2,500.

"The number of unique accounts continues to grow showing that the marketplace is increasingly using BTC futures to hedge bitcoin risk and/or access exposure," the firm said.

The crypto futures market is looking more promising than ever, according to research comparing bitcoin futures to gold. CME research shows the bitcoin futures reported its highest comparison to gold futures this May.

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