CME surpasses Binance in Bitcoin futures open interest

As anticipation builds around the potential approval of a U.S. Bitcoin spot price ETF, the crypto market experiences an intriguing shift, with CME Group’s Bitcoin futures open interest (OI) surpassing that of Binance, marking a notable “flippening” in institutional engagement. Dan Tapiero, the founder and CEO of 10T Holdings, views this development as a pivotal moment, emphasizing the commencement of concrete institutional adoption driven by real-world facts rather than speculative hope.

The surge in Bitcoin’s price to 18-month highs aligns with the growing excitement over the prospects of a U.S. Bitcoin spot price ETF. Simultaneously, institutional dynamics are undergoing a transformation, with CME Group’s Bitcoin futures markets taking the lead over Binance in open interest for the first time. Tapiero interprets this as a significant shift, heralding the onset of a substantial inflow of capital from the traditional financial world into Bitcoin.

The aggregate Bitcoin futures open interest surpassed $17 billion on November 9, reaching its highest point in seven months. Although the current figure stands slightly lower at $15.5 billion, according to data from CoinGlass, the momentum signals a growing institutional interest in Bitcoin derivatives.

In their market update, trading firm QCP Capital identifies the potential approval of a spot ETF for Ether (ETH) as a catalyst that could further invigorate the crypto market. While the expectation for a spot BTC ETF approval might be delayed until January 2024, the narrative surrounding an ETH ETF is seen as sufficient to fuel optimism and drive crypto prices higher towards the end of the year.

Despite the overall bullish sentiment, QCP advises caution, pointing out a series of lower highs on Bitcoin’s daily relative strength index (RSI) values, suggesting a potential slowdown in momentum. The firm acknowledges the positive macroeconomic outlook, with rate pause expectations in place, predicting continued support for crypto prices. However, they emphasize the need for caution as BTC approaches crucial resistance levels, accompanied by a triple-bear divergence with the RSI, historically signaling potential momentum stalling.

At the time of writing, BTC/USD is trading near $36,500, while ETH/USD has surpassed the $2,000 mark with a more than 4% gain on the day.