A major derivatives exchange witnessed unprecedented activity in its cryptocurrency markets in the first quarter of the year, fueled by a surge in interest for micro-sized contracts.
The exchange noted an average daily volume of 198,000 contracts for cryptocurrency products, which equated to a notional value of $11.3 billion. It highlighted astonishing figures for micro ether futures, with trading peaking at 76,000 contracts, along with bitcoin and ether futures seeing volumes of 18,000 and 13,000 contracts, respectively.
Notable growth was also observed in micro bitcoin futures, which experienced a remarkable 113% increase year-over-year, achieving an average daily volume of 77,000 contracts. The company had already recorded significant crypto contract activity back in January.
The exchange’s bitcoin and ether futures contracts have a notional value of 5 BTC and 50 ETH, respectively, while their micro contracts account for just 0.1 of each asset. This reduced size facilitates more accurate trading strategies and enhanced risk management.
This surge in cryptocurrency trading is part of a wider upward trend across the exchange’s operations. The organization reported an all-time quarterly average daily volume of 29.8 million contracts during the first quarter, with additional records established in U.S. Treasury futures, energy options, and agricultural contracts.