The volume of open positions in bitcoin futures exceeded $ 5 billion

Open interest or the total amount held by traders of bitcoin futures on February 13 exceeded $ 5 billion, according to The Block.

According to the analyst of the publication Larry Chermak, the growth of open interest (OI) signals that traders expect a short-term increase in the volatility of the underlying asset.

The total open interest in bitcoin futures. Data: The Block

BitMex currently has the highest OI - $ 1.6 billion, or 31% of the total.

Next are the Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges OKEx and Huobi, with OI of bitcoin futures of $ 1.4 billion and $ 1 billion, respectively.

Largest American CME Derivatives ExchangeGroup turned out to be the fifth most popular market for trading bitcoin futures with an OI of about $ 312 million. On the Bakkt cryptocurrency platform, it reached only $ 18 million.

Recall, at the beginning of February, the total volumeBitcoin futures trading on BitMex since its launch in 2016 exceeded $ 2 trillion. At the CME, which began trading in derivatives in December 2017, this figure reached $ 100 billion at the beginning of the year.