Bitcoin Price Targets $70k Breakout as CME Open Interest Hits $11.6B All-Time High…

Open interest measures the total number of active Bitcoin futures contracts at any point in time. Over the past five trading days, CME saw a significant increase, with an additional 25,125 BTC in open contracts—a figure not seen in recent years.

The last time such a substantial increase in CME Bitcoin futures occurred was in June 2023, when open interest jumped by 26,525 BTC, coinciding with BlackRock’s filing for the iShares Bitcoin Trust, a spot Bitcoin ETF. During that period, Bitcoin’s price surged from $25,000 to $30,000.

In another case, during October 2023, an increase of 25,115 BTC in open interest occurred as CME overtook Binance to become the largest Bitcoin futures exchange. Following that, Bitcoin’s price climbed from $25,000 to over $40,000 by the end of the year.

Hence, Bitcoin’s steady consolidation above the $67,000 support suggests that this bullish trend may repeat, potentially propelling BTC above the $70,000 level in the coming days.

K33 Research Analysts Hit that Large Institutional Players Dominating the CME Surge

Analysts at K33 Research, a Norwegian crypto broker, have identified large institutional investors and direct market participants as the main driving force behind this new surge in Bitcoin open interest on CME.

According to Vetle Lunde, senior analyst at K33 Research, this uptick is being fueled by active traders rather than inflows into futures-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) like the ProShares Bitcoin ETF (BITO).

“The growth is clearly driven by active and direct market participants—not inflows to futures-based ETFs,” said Lunde.

CME data shows that direct participants currently hold 85,623 BTC in futures contracts, a similar figure to what was recorded in March 2024 when Bitcoin neared its all-time high.