Singapore – Institutional investors quickly embrace CME’s future for and Solana both launched earlier this year, in conjunction with a steady growth in Bitcoin and Ether Derivatives, according to Tim McCourt, the global leader of Equity & FX exchange products.
Speaking at the ongoing conference of the token2049 attended by CoinDesk, McCourt said the total interest of crypto futures, a key indicator of institutional activity, doubled the year-on-year, up to $ 30 to $ 35 billion daily. Importantly, this growth is not only driven by bitcoin.
CME’s cash-settle futures have long served as a go-to for institutions who want exposure to cryptocurrencies through regulated products, without having to own tokens directly.
Futures contracts are standardized, legal binding agreements between two parties to buy or sell an asset at a prescribed price at a specific date in the future. Open interest refers to the number of active contracts at any time, which is often expressed at the cost of the dollar.
“If we look at the new futures we recently introduced this year, the XRP and Sol, they also enjoy the institutional adoption, with open interest in record highs,” McCourt said during the panel “, the institutional flow to digital assets.”
Sol and XRP surge to $ 1b oi mark
The standard contract with Solana’s futures, which measured 500 Sol, debuted in mid -March and crossed a $ 1 billion notional open interest score in August. Futures tied to the focus focus on the XRP crossed the threshold in August, just three months after they started trading with a standard contract size of 50,000 XRP.
“The speed at which Solana accumulates open interest is really interesting. Sol lasted five months to hit a billion (Oi) mark, compared to Ether, which lasted for about eight months. Meanwhile, the BTC lasted three years,” McCourt said.
He also noticed record activity on both ether futures and options. Like Tuesday, the open interest in the Ether Futures contract, measuring 50 ETH, stood at $ 9.05 billion, hitting a living peak of $ 10.42 billion in August.
The Ether Futures began to trade with CME in early 2021. The open interest in the Ether options also hit a record of over $ 1 billion in September.
“While the crypto is hot, Ether is definitely hot in CME. We see the record of open interest, trading volume record, both in the standards and micro size contracts,” McCourt said.
CME Futures contributes to price discovery
The presence of regulated crypto futures, along with the debut of ETF spots in the US, has brought greater legitimacy and transparency in the market, which attracts more institutional capital and increasing general liquidity in the market.
CME’s cash-settled futures enable large investors in fence risks, think, and establish arbitration plays, which effectively manage their exposure to the net.
These futures, therefore, contribute to the discovery of the price, reduce volatility through a harmonious trading mechanism, and provide the way for the broader adoption of digital ownership within the traditional market.
Stablecoins as partners of traditional banks
The panel also includes a discussion on the impact of ETFs and Stablecoins, which features views from Binance CEO Richard Teng, Bitwise Asset Management CEO Hunter Horsley, and Heath Tarbert, President of the Circle, provided the USDC, the world’s second largest stablecoin.
Tarbert said Stablecoins is a good partner for traditional banks, emphasizing the importance of clarity and regulation.
He added that stablecoins like the USDC can help banks include and offer tokenized versions of their lending products, emphasizing that these dollars tokens are not competitors to banks but the paths to create new financial products.
Horsley said 2025 marked the beginning of the mainstream period for the crypto as Teng featured various waves of interest in the institutional.
