The trading volume and open interest on CME Group’s Bitcoin Futures contracts appear to be close to a new all-time high, as data from the firm’s website shows 5,328 contracts in open interest.

As each CME Bitcoin Futures contract represents 5 BTC, which at press time are worth $43,900. In total, the 5,328 contracts represent 26,640 bitcoin, worth around $234.2 million. The figure is higher than any other monthly close the CME has reported since its Bitcoin Futures contracts launched in December 2017, with the largest open interest of 2019being seen in July with 5,252 contracts.

Earlier this month, open interest hit an all-time high of 5,400 contracts according to data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Nevertheless, on social media the CME Group reported a new high when it comes to large open interest holders, referring to entities holding at least 25 BTC ($220,000).

Overall interest in cryptocurrency derivatives has seemingly been growing recently, as institutional investors’ appetite for cryptocurrencies keeps growing. Earlier this week, the CME Group launched its options on bitcoin futures, and traded a total of 55 options contracts in its debut session.

The contracts were equivalent to 275 BTC or $2.33 million. The trading volume saw Tim McCourt, global head of equity index products at the CME, note it “takes time to grow any new market,” and added the CME was “pleased with the response from customers and market participants so far.”

As CryptoGlobe report, cryptocurrency asset manager Grayscale recently posted a record-breaking year with $600 million inflows, exceeding the cumulative amount it saw from 2013 to 2018. Grayscale’s Michael Sonnenshein commented on the results saying that regarding the questions of where are the institutional investors in crypto, the answer is now “they’re here and showing up in a meaningful size.”

Featured image via Unsplash.