Bitcoin

CME Group to Launch Options on Its Bitcoin Friday Futures in February

Published

3 months ago

February 3, 2025

CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, has announced plans to introduce options on its Bitcoin Friday futures starting February 24, pending regulatory approval. These new contracts will be the first cryptocurrency options from CME Group to be financially settled, with expirations available each business day, Monday through Friday.

Financially-settled options, also known as cash-settled options, are derivatives contracts where the settlement at expiration does not involve the physical delivery of the underlying asset. Instead, the profit or loss from the option is calculated based on the difference between the option’s strike price and the market price of the underlying asset at the time of expiration, and this amount is then paid in cash.

“We are pleased to offer these new options that provide traders with even greater precision to manage short-term bitcoin price risk,” said Giovanni Vicioso, CME Group’s Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products. “Building on the success of our Bitcoin Friday futures, the smaller size of these contracts, along with daily expiries, offer market participants a capital-efficient toolset to effectively adjust their bitcoin exposure.”

CME Group said these financially-settled options will enhance its lineup of other cryptocurrency derivatives, which already includes physically-settled options on Bitcoin and Micro Bitcoin futures.

“Given the increasing density of tradable catalysts in crypto, CME Group’s new option suite on Bitcoin Friday futures provides the granularity that market participants need for hedging and expressing nuanced views on Bitcoin,” said Joshua Lim, Global Co-head of Markets at FalconX.

Since their launch on September 29, Bitcoin Friday futures have become CME Group’s most successful cryptocurrency product, with over 775,000 contracts traded and an average daily volume of 9,700 contracts. Notably, 44% of trades occurred during non-U.S. hours, highlighting global demand.

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Tariff Carnage Starting to Fulfill BTC’s ‘Store of Value’ Promise

Published

13 hours ago

April 27, 2025

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April has been a month of extreme volatility and tumultuous times for traders.

From conflicting headlines about President Donald Trump’s tariffs against other nations to total confusion about which assets to seek shelter in, it has been one for the record books.

Amid all the confusion, when traditional “haven assets” failed to act as safe places to park money, one bright spot emerged that might have surprised some market participants: bitcoin.

“Historically, cash (the US dollar), bonds (US Treasuries), the Swiss Franc, and gold have fulfilled that role [safe haven], with bitcoin edging in on some of that territory,” said NYDIG Research in a note.

Safe haven asset performance (NYDIG Research)

NYDIG’s data showed that while gold and Swiss Franc had been consistent safe-haven winners, since ‘Liberation Day’—when President Trump announced sweeping tariff hikes on April 2, kicking off extreme volatility in the market—bitcoin has been added to the list.

“Bitcoin has acted less like a liquid levered version of levered US equity beta and more like the non-sovereign issued store of value that it is,” NYDIG wrote.

Zooming out, it seems that as the “sell America” trade gains momentum, investors are taking notice of bitcoin and the original promise of the biggest cryptocurrency.

“Though the connection is still tentative, bitcoin appears to be fulfilling its original promise as a non-sovereign store of value, designed to thrive in times like these,” NYDIG added.

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Bitcoin Continues To Flow Out Of Major Exchanges — Supply Squeeze Soon?

Published

23 hours ago

April 27, 2025

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It was quite the coincidence that the cryptocurrency market jolted back to life after Easter Sunday, with Bitcoin leading the way with more than a double-digit gain. While the price of BTC continues to hold above the critical $94,000 level, the premier cryptocurrency seems to be losing some momentum.

Unsurprisingly, investors appear to be increasingly confident in the promise of this recent rally, as significant amounts of BTC continue to make their way off major centralized exchanges over the past few days. Here’s how much investors have moved in the past few days.

Over 35,000 BTC Move Out Of Coinbase And Binance

In a Quicktake post on the CryptoQuant platform, crypto analyst João Wedson revealed that Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has seen increased activity over the past few days. The exchange netflow data shows that huge amounts of Bitcoin have been withdrawn from the platform in recent days.

According to CryptoQuant data, a total of 27,750 BTC (worth $2.63 billion at current price) was moved out of Binance on Friday, April 25. This latest round of withdrawals represents the third-largest net outflow in the centralized exchange’s history.

The movement of significant crypto amounts from exchanges, which offer services like selling to non-custodial wallets, suggests a potential shift in investor sentiment and strategy. Large exchange outflows often signal increased confidence of holders in the long-term potential of an asset.

Wedson noted that the recent outflows do not guarantee a price rally for Bitcoin, but they do signal strong institutional activity, which is often a precursor for major volatility. Citing China’s crypto ban in 2021, the crypto analyst highlighted how massive exchange outflows didn’t prevent the dump.

At the same time, Wedson mentioned that the continuous Bitcoin outflows over several days, like during the FTX collapse, preceded a price bottom and the eventual market recovery. Ultimately, the online pundit hinted at paying close attention to the overall trend of the exchange netflow rather than a single-day activity.

Similarly, more than 7,000 BTC (worth approximately $66.5 million) have made their way out of the Coinbase exchange. According to the CryptoQuant analyst Amr Taha, this negative exchange netflow could be an indicator of increased institutional activity, as Coinbase is known as the primary crypto vendor for US-based institutions.

Taha said:

These large outflows typically suggest accumulation by institutions or large investors, potentially signaling bullish sentiment.

The analyst outlined that if the dwindling exchange reserves correlate with an increased spot demand or ETF inflows, a supply squeeze could be on the horizon, potentially pushing the price to the upside.

Bitcoin Price At A Glance

As of this writing, the price of BTC sits just beneath $95,200, reflecting an almost 2% increase in the past 24 hours.

Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView

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Bitcoin Perpetual Swaps Signal Short Bias Amid Price Rebound – Details

Published

1 day ago

April 26, 2025

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The Bitcoin market saw another rebound in the past week as prices leaped by over 12% to hit a local peak of $95,600. Amid the ongoing market euphoria, prominent blockchain analytics company Glassnode has shared some important developments in the Bitcoin derivative markets.

Bitcoin Short Bets Rise Despite Price Rally, Setting Stage For Volatility

Despite a bullish trading week, derivative traders are approaching the Bitcoin market with skepticism, as evidenced by a build-up of leveraged short positions.

In a recent X post on April 25, Glassnode reported that Open Interest (OI) in Bitcoin perpetual swaps climbed to 218,000 BTC, marking a 15.6% increase from early March. In line with market activity, this rise in Open Interest aligns with increased leverage, introducing the potential for market volatility via liquidations or stop-outs.

Bitcoin

Generally, a rise in Open Interest amidst a price rally is expected to signal long-term market confidence. However, Glassnode’s findings have revealed an opposite scenario. Despite Bitcoin’s bullish strides in the past week, short market positions appear to be dominating the perpetual futures markets.

This concerning development is indicated by a decline in the average funding rate, which has now slipped into negative territory to sit around -0.023%. The perpetual funding rate is a periodic payment between long and short traders aimed at keeping the contract price in line with the underlying spot price.

A negative funding rate indicates short traders pay long traders as Bitcoin’s perpetual contract price is trading below the spot price. This is caused by a higher number of short positions as traders are largely bearish about Bitcoin, even despite recent gains.

Furthermore, the 7-day moving average (7DMA) of long-side funding premiums has dropped to $88,000 per hour, reinforcing this short-dominant sentiment. This downtrend indicates a waning demand for long positions, as traders exhibit a short bias.

However, Glassnode presents a bullish note stating that the present combination of rising leverage and short positions paves the way for a potential short squeeze, where an unexpected upward price move forces short-sellers to close their positions, thereby driving prices even higher.

Bitcoin Price Overview

At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades at $94,629 following a 1.01% retracement from its local peak price on April 25. Despite creeping developments in the perpetual futures market, the BTC market remains highly bullish, indicated by gains of 1.02%, 11.12%, and 8.32% in the last one, seven, and thirty days, respectively. With a market cap of $1.88 trillion, the premier cryptocurrency ranks as the largest digital asset and fifth-largest asset in the world.

Bitcoin