Bitcoin (BTC) has been surging towards a $2 trillion market cap, adding $30,000 since Donald Trump’s win in the U.S. presidential election earlier this month, putting it on track for a market cap of nearly $2 trillion. At $1.93 trillion, a price of $101,000 per Bitcoin would cement this milestone. Earlier this week, Bitcoin surpassed $97,000, pushing its market dominance to almost 61.8%, a sign of growing investor confidence.
A significant factor in the rising momentum is the sharp increase in Bitcoin futures open interest on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). As of now, open interest has hit a new record of 218,000 BTC, valued at around $21.3 billion, a 30% jump since November 5, coinciding with the election. This rise in futures open interest, particularly when prices are climbing, signals a positive market sentiment. Velte Lunde, Head of Research at K33, highlighted the rapid growth in CME futures, noting that the past 15 days saw a larger increase in open interest than any previous year since 2022, indicating that active traders are leading this rally.
Additionally, the involvement of ETFs tied to Bitcoin, such as the ProShares Bitcoin ETF (BITO), and the upcoming launch of options based on Bitcoin spot ETFs are expected to further bolster CME futures trading and attract more institutional participants.
As Bitcoin increasingly intertwines with traditional financial markets, its volatility has been trending downward. Glassnode data reveals that realized volatility has decreased significantly from over 100% to approximately 40% in recent years. This stabilization is further supported by the rise of cash-collateralized futures, which are inherently less volatile than crypto-collateralized contracts. With CME’s market share growing to 33%, and crypto-collateralized futures dropping to just 16%, the market anticipates even less volatility as Bitcoin continues to mature as a mainstream asset.
