While bitcoin hit fresh three-month highs on Wednesday, open interest in monthly bitcoin futures on the Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE) Bakkt platform jumped to record highs.
Open interest, or the number of open futures contracts, rose to $13 million, surpassing the previous record high of $12 million reached on Feb. 3, according to data analytics firm Skew.
Open interest has risen sharply, by 13.6 percent from $5.5 million to $13 million over the past two weeks. Open positions on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s bitcoin futures also jumped to a five-month high of $249 million on Wednesday – up 34.5 percent from $185 million seen two weeks ago.
Bitcoin’s price has risen by 19 percent since Jan. 24. The cryptocurrency printed a high of $9,775 on Wednesday, a level last seen on Oct. 28.
Analysts keep track of changes in open interest to gauge the strength of price moves.
An uptick in price along with a rise in open interest indicates there is strength behind the move higher. A trend is said to be lacking substance when the two metrics move in opposite directions.
Bakkt volumes decline
Meanwhile, trading volumes in Bakkt futures have been in a declining trend since hitting a record high of over $44 million, or 6,601 BTC, on Dec. 18.
As of Feb. 5, trading volume was $27 million, of which $16 million came from the physically settled futures.
Volumes on CME, however, have held strong, with seven sessions in the last two weeks registering more than $500 million volume, as noted by Skew.
Disclosure: The author does not currently hold any digital assets.