Market Analysis Report (23 Jun 2021)

The total open interest in the bitcoin futures market is down 59% from its $27.3 billion peak on April 13, and is now sitting at $11.3 billion, according to Arcane Research.

In a report, the firm said that the downward trend shows institutional investors are being “cautious” at the moment. The firm details that three-month futures in bitcoin are trading at a discount to current spot prices, which is generally perceived as a bearish signal.

Open interest on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) saw its share of total bitcoin futures climb at the end of last month, but it’s now moving downward. The CME’s open interest is now sitting at 12.2% of the BTC futures market, putting it in fourth place behind Binance, OKEx, and Bybit.

Nathan Cox, chief investment officer at Two Prime, said it’s “safe to say that institutional interest has waned.” Per Cox, while institutions are “hungry” for crypto, their ability to step in is limited by the market’s volatility.

CryptoCompare’s May 2021 Exchange Review showed that the crypto market crash saw open interest for bitcoin drop significantly, even as open interest for Ethereum surged.

Source: https://www.cryptocompare.com/email-updates/daily/2021/jun/23/