Open interest in Bitcoin long futures held by asset managers is at an all-time high

Open interest in Bitcoin long futures held by asset managers on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has reached an all-time high.

According to The Block's Data Dashboard, open interest in CME Bitcoin long futures by asset managers increased from $1.04 billion at the end of October to a current value of $1.98 billion.

The current value of contracts held by asset managers exceeded the previous all-time high. When Bitcoin price hit an all-time high of $68,000 in November 2021, CME long Bitcoin futures held by asset managers at the time only amounted to $1.67 billion.

The increase in open futures contracts suggests that asset managers expect the price of Bitcoin to rise when current contracts expire on the last Friday of December.

Open interest from hedge funds taking long positions in Bitcoin futures on the CME is also at a peak. There are currently $680 million in open interest from hedge funds taking long positions, which is still below the all-time high of $960 million.

However, hedge funds are also responsible for the majority of open interest short positions for Bitcoin futures on the CME. Such hedge funds are responsible for more than $2 billion in open positions in this direction.

Overall, asset managers have a net long position of $1.97 billion, while hedge funds have a net short position of $1.36 billion, according to The Block's data dashboard.

On November 10, CME Bitcoin futures outperformed Binance BTC

+0.21%
The size of the futures markets shows increased demand from institutional investors. Accordingly According to data from Coinglass, total open interest on the Bitcoin futures CME is now $4.15 billion, compared to $4.08 billion in the Binance futures market.

Data from The Block's data dashboard also shows an all-time high for large CME Bitcoin futures open interest holders, for both long and short positions. The increase in open interest for positions with at least 25 Bitcoin shows increased activity in the derivatives market by participants with large holdings. This would suggest that market activity is focused on trades from more sophisticated, experienced investors.

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