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BitMEX Ether Futures Trading Contracts Fall by Half in Wake of US Charges
Open interest on the Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange is down nearly 50% from the $125 million observed Oct. 1.
Updated Mar 6, 2023, 3:29 p.m. Published Oct 5, 2020, 11:26 p.m.
Investor interest in ether futures traded on BitMEX has declined sharply since the Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange was charged Thursday with illegally operating an unregistered derivatives-trading platform that accepted U.S. customers.
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- At press time, ether futures contracts worth $63 million (179,000 ETH) are open or active on BitMEX, the lowest since May 15, according to data source Skew.
- Open interest is down nearly 50% from the $125 million observed on Oct. 1.
- Last week, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed civil charges against BitMEX, and the Department of Justice brought criminal charges against BitMEX's owners for facilitating money laundering and other illegal transactions.
- Open interest in ether futures on BitMEX was declining even before last week’s charges, in line with a downdraft witnessed across the industry. It had peaked at $214 million on Sept. 1.
- September's 17% decline in ether's price likely dented short-term optimism, causing a slide in the open interest across all exchanges.
- Notably, since Thursday, open positions in BitMEX bitcoin futures have also declined by over 20% from $592 million to $456 million.
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Also read: Open Interest in CME Bitcoin Futures Slides as Market Sapped by Surging DeFi
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Exchange Review - March 2025
CoinDesk Data's monthly Exchange Review captures the key developments within the cryptocurrency exchange market. The report includes analyses that relate to exchange volumes, crypto derivatives trading, market segmentation by fees, fiat trading, and more.
What to know:
Trading activity softened in March as market uncertainty grew amid escalating tariff tensions between the U.S. and global trading partners. Centralized exchanges recorded their lowest combined trading volume since October, declining 6.24% to $6.79tn. This marked the third consecutive monthly decline across both market segments, with spot trading volume falling 14.1% to $1.98tn and derivatives trading slipping 2.56% to $4.81tn.
- Trading Volumes Decline for Third Consecutive Month: Combined spot and derivatives trading volume on centralized exchanges fell by 6.24% to $6.79tn in March 2025, reaching the lowest level since October. Both spot and derivatives markets recorded their third consecutive monthly decline, falling 14.1% and 2.56% to $1.98tn and $4.81tn respectively.
- Institutional Crypto Trading Volume on CME Falls 23.5%: In March, total derivatives trading volume on the CME exchange fell by 23.5% to $175bn, the lowest monthly volume since October 2024. CME's market share among derivatives exchanges dropped from 4.63% to 3.64%, suggesting declining institutional interest amid current macroeconomic conditions.
- Bybit Spot Market Share Slides in March: Spot trading volume on Bybit fell by 52.1% to $81.1bn in March, coinciding with decreased trading activity following the hack of the exchange's cold wallets in February. Bybit's spot market share dropped from 7.35% to 4.10%, its lowest since July 2023.
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What to know:
- Ethena's USDe becomes fifth stablecoin to surpass $10 billion market cap in just 609 days, while Tether's dominance continues to slip.
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