Crypto derivatives volumes outstrip spot trades in June
04:33, 13 July 2021
Cryptocurrency derivatives volumes outstripped spot trades for the first time this year in June, against a background of shrinking overall volumes.
Derivatives had a total market share of 53.8% in June versus 49.4% in May, with a monetary value of $3.2trn – while total spot volumes were $2.7trn, according to data provided by CryptoCompare.
While derivatives edged out spot trades, both asset classes saw volumes decline in June as China’s mining crackdown and a falling bitcoin price hit market interest. Total derivatives volumes were 40.7% down on June – versus a 42.7% fall for spot activity.
Lower volatility
“As a result of both lower prices and volatility, spot volumes decreased by an immense 42.7%, while total derivative volumes decreased 40.7%. This was also the case for BTC and ETH futures open interest, which were down 31.8% and 29.3% respectively,” the London-based firm said in its report.
Crypto exchange Binance has been the subject of several moves by regulators in Thailand, the UK, Japan and the Cayman Islands in recent weeks, however, this negative publicity has not affected its volumes – yet. Binance topped the rankings for both derivatives and spot trades with $1.73trn and $668bn respectively.
Paradoxically, despite Binance attracting the ire of regulators, it appears to be benefitting from a trend by traders that CryptoCompare terms, “top tier exchanges”. Volumes on the 15 most highly rated digital asset bourses have increased markedly since December 2019, according to the firm’s data.
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Top tier venues
Total top tier volumes now stand at 88%, versus a low of 47%.
“As Bitcoin attracts further high-grade investment, trading on the lowest risk venues...becomes a priority. This, combined with regulatory pressure to improve operational standards has gradually increased Top Tier volumes at the expense of Lower-Tier volumes,” CryptoCompare said.