Bitcoin ETF fever sends crypto trading volume to 18-month high of $1.3tn

Market participants are eager to capitalise on the anticipated approval of Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds in the US.

Spot trading volume across all centralised exchanges rose 34% to over $1.3 trillion, its highest since June 2022, according to a report from crypto data provider CCData.

Binance was responsible for a significant portion of that volume.

The exchange managed to regain some of its spot market share for the first time since March, with spot trading volumes rising 38% to $425 billion. That bumped its market share by 0.7% to about 33%.

Meanwhile, the CME Group, which overtook Binance last year to become the largest crypto derivatives trading venue, saw over $70 billion in trading volume in December.

This was the CME’s highest crypto derivatives volume since November 2021 — the peak of the bull market.

Bitcoin options soared by 86% to $2.2 billion. CCData interpreted the move as investors hedging their positions ahead of the US Securities and Exchange Commission potentially greenlighting Bitcoin spot ETF applications this month.

In contrast, CME Bitcoin futures volume rose by 1% and Ethereum futures by 3% — to $52 billion and $14 billion, respectively.

Open interest also reached new highs, rising 18% to almost $5 billion. CME extended its market share of Bitcoin futures open interest by another 2.5%, now processing a little under 32% of the total market volume.

Even if it loses the Bitcoin futures crown, total derivatives volume on Binance rose 25% to almost $1.6 trillion dollars, its highest monthly volume since March.

Tom Carreras is a markets correspondent for DL News. Got a tip about Bitcoin futures? Reach out at tcarreras@dlnews.com