Institutional traders are pouring into CME Group’s regulated crypto derivatives markets, setting a sequence of data throughout futures and choices tied to ether , solana and XRP, CME informed CoinDesk on Thursday.
Since October 10, open curiosity throughout CME’s crypto futures and choices has jumped 27%, a surge the trade attributes to a shift away from offshore markets following a wave of liquidations final week.
On Tuesday, open curiosity in ETH futures reached 48,600 contracts — the best on report — with SOL and XRP futures additionally hitting all-time highs at 20,700 and 10,100 contracts, respectively.
Choices open curiosity hit $9 billion, one other report, underscoring how extra merchants are utilizing CME merchandise to hedge or speculate with regulated instruments as an alternative of offshore options. CME’s Micro Ether futures ranked second in quantity on Tuesday, mirroring the broader shift.
“The highest 10 [open interest] days had been all in October demonstrating robust conviction and increasing participation within the regulated crypto derivatives market.,” a CME spokesperson mentioned, highlighting increasing market participation and rising conviction amongst skilled traders.
The pattern builds on CME’s third quarter outcomes, when mixed crypto futures and choices quantity topped $900 billion and common every day open curiosity hit $31.3 billion. In September, notional open curiosity peaked at $39 billion. Over 1,000 giant open curiosity holders had been energetic throughout that interval, suggesting that utilization of those merchandise is increasing past a distinct segment circle of merchants.
This development isn’t restricted to bitcoin or ether. Since launching earlier this 12 months, CME’s solana and XRP futures have drawn important consideration. Solana futures crossed $2.1 billion in open curiosity by September, whereas XRP reached $1.4 billion.

