Institutional Investors Increase Bitcoin Appetite Ahead Of Spot ETF, Report Shows

A report by K33 research analysts has provided insight into how much institutional investors’ appetite for Bitcoin has increased ahead of a potential approval of a Spot BTC ETF. The research firm emphasized a particular indicator to drive home their point and provided further insight into what the future holds if these ETFs get approved.

In the report written by K33’s Senior Analyst Vetle Lunde and Head of Research Anders Helseth, they noted that the derivatives market was important as it can be used to gauge institutional traders’ interest in Bitcoin. In line with this, they touched on how there has been a significant increase in open interest in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) derivatives market.

The K33 report specifically noted that the CME’s open interest has grown by over 3,4000 BTC over the past week. Meanwhile, CME’s open interest remains near all-time highs of 110,000 BTC. The increased activity on the CME has resulted from these traders’ desire to gain exposure to Bitcoin ahead of the “imminent ETF verdict.”

With a potential approval on the horizon, it is believed that many traders are looking to make as much profit as they can from this bullish event. Meanwhile, others have genuinely become bullish on the flagship cryptocurrency and want to gain exposure to it in any way they can. The CME is arguably the most accessible means to gain exposure to Bitcoin for this class of investors. 

Notably, the K33 analysts highlighted how the open interest in the CME exchange had picked up the pace back in October. Coincidentally or not, this happened to be when Bitcoin and the broader crypto market picked up steam, as many believed that the Spot Bitcoin ETF rumors were the reason for the rally. 

NewsBTC had in November reported how CME had overtaken Binance in Bitcoin futures. Data from Coinglass also shows that the CME is still well ahead in terms of Bitcoin futures open interest. However, that could change soon enough as the K33 report touched on the possibility of open interest in CME collapsing once these Spot Bitcoin ETFs get approved. 

An approval can cause selling pressure on CME as these institutional investors might look to take profit while others will be looking to transfer their capital to the Spot ETFs. K33 elaborated on the latter. The report noted that futures-based ETFs currently account for 46% of the CME’s open interest. 

Considering that futures and Spot ETFs will be in direct competition, they expect the latter to become the more favorable option. As such, these K33 analysts foresee a decline in the open interest, which these futures ETFs account for. They project that many institutional investors will look to rotate a substantial portion of their capital to the Spot ETFs.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at around $42,800, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.