-
CME
bitcoin
futures
open
interest
hit
$6.2
billion
Tuesday
as
institutions
increasingly
bet
on
a
spot
bitcoin
ETF
approval. -
The
trend
may
soon
reverse
as
investors
will
quickly
unwind
positions
if
ETFs
get
approved,
K33
Research
predicted.
Bitcoin
(BTC)
futures
open
interest
on
the
top
U.S.
marketplace
hit
a
record-high
on
Tuesday
as
institutional
players
keep
piling
into
the
asset
in
anticipation
of
a
spot
bitcoin
ETF
approval,
but
the
trend
may
end
soon
as
SEC’s
greenlight
will
trigger
selling
pressure,
K33
Research
said
in
a
note.
The
open
interest
(OI)
–
active
trading
positions
–
for
BTC
futures
contracts
on
the
Chicago
Mercantile
Exchange
(CME),
the
largest
BTC
futures
trading
venue
and
favored
by
sophisticated
market
participants,
rose
to
$6.2
billion
or
132,900
in
BTC
terms
during
the
day,
both
fresh
all-time
highs,
CoinGlass
data
shows.
The
record-breaking
happened
as
CME
bitcoin
OI
almost
doubled
from
72,000
BTC
in
mid-October,
with
market
participants
increasingly
betting
on
regulators
allowing
the
first
spot-based
bitcoin
ETFs
that
can
hold
bitcoin
directly.
Steady
inflows
into
futures-based
bitcoin
ETFs
such
as
ProShares’
BITO,
which
holds
BTC
futures
traded
on
CME,
also
contributed
to
the
rise.
For
full
coverage
of
bitcoin
ETFs,
click
here.
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CME
bitcoin
futures
open
interest
in
BTC
terms
(K33
Research)
As
a
sign
of
bullish
sentiment,
CME
front-month
futures
contracts
traded
at
a
hefty
premium
of
18.7%
annualized
to
the
spot
price,
according
to
TradingView
data.
However,
K33
Research
forecasted
in
a
Tuesday
market
report
that
this
regime
won’t
last,
and
both
the
open
interest
and
premium
will
plummet
if
a
spot-based
bitcoin
ETF
gets
approved
in
the
U.S.
The
report
pointed
out
that
some
43%
of
the
CME
bitcoin
futures
contracts
belonged
to
futures-based
ETFs.
As
investors
will
likely
rotate
funds
to
cheaper
spot
ETFs,
futures
funds
need
to
close
their
positions,
pushing
open
interest
and
the
premium
lower.
The
other
57%
of
the
contracts
are
held
by
active
market
participants,
the
report
follows,
whose
exposure
increased
by
128%
–
to
around
75,000
BTC
from
33,000
–
over
the
past
three
months.
Holding
these
positions
open
is
very
expensive
at
the
current
premium,
K33
noted,
forecasting
that
some
investors
will
seek
to
realize
profits
after
the
bitcoin
ETF
approval.
“All
else
equal,
this
structural
rotation
will
lead
to
selling
pressure,”
K33
analysts
Anders
Helseth
and
Vetle
Lunde
wrote.
“CME’s
all-time
high
regime
could
rapidly
approach
an
end.”