Amid uncertainty in global financial markets, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), one of the world’s largest and most diversified derivatives markets, saw a sharp recovery in cryptocurrency options trading volumes in July.
The notable increase was the first after a period of stagnation over the past four months. Trading activity related to cryptocurrency options trading increased by 24% to an impressive $940 million, according to analysis provided by renowned data tracking platform CCData.
This increase in trading volume has been seen across multiple digital assets. For example, bitcoin BTC -0.21% options volume rose 16.6 percent to $734 million, reflecting market participants’ growing interest in the digital currency.
At the same time, Ethereum ETH 0.12%, another major player in the cryptocurrency market, has seen a fairly high growth rate in options volumes. That figure jumped 60 percent to a total of $207 million.
Contrary to the booming trend in cryptocurrency options trading, the CME futures market is in a downtrend.
Specifically, futures volume fell 17.6% to $39.1 billion. The decline also affected total derivatives trading volume, which includes futures and options. According to CCData, the figure fell by 17.0% to a total of $40.1 billion.
CCData’s report highlights that the expansion of CME’s Bitcoin options trading volume may be a strategic move by institutional investors.
