Derivatives accounted for 32% of the crypto market in May, reaching a record volume of USD $ 602 billion. 

According to UK-based cryptocurrency data aggregator CryptoCompare, May’s figures beat the previous record of $600 billion, set in March 2020. 

The lion’s share of May’s derivative volume was handled by Huobi, OKEx, and Binance – which together accounted for approximately 80%. Huobi, the market leader, saw volume surge 29% to $176bn, while OKEx saw volume grow 33% to $152bn, and Binance recorded growth of 58% to $139bn. However, in terms of percentage growth, institutional player CME actually saw the biggest increase at 59%, which took it to $7.2bn. 

CME also saw institutional options volumes break records in May, with 5,996 contracts traded – that’s an incredible 16 times more than were traded in April. On 28 May alone, CME saw 1,418 Bitcoin (BTC) options contracts traded. It was a similar story at Derebit too, where options volumes more than doubled in May, to $3.06bn. 

CryptoCompare also noted a huge shift in stablecoin use, with USDT dominating, making up 98% of stablecoin to BTC trading, while USDC volume was down 78% and PAX crashed 97% in May. 

As to be expected, 10 May – the day before the much anticipated Bitcoin halving – saw a massive spike in spot trading volumes, which rocketed to $64.7bn. 

AYO.NEWS says:

With the world rapidly destabilising and many fearing an unprecedented crash of the traditional economic system is approaching, it’s not surprising to see a significant uptick in crypto activity among institutional investors and traders. 

Further confirming this uptick was data from Skew in mid-May, which showed open interest on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Bitcoin options exploding by more than 1,000%. And, just last week, it emerged that Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust had embarked on a massive BTC buying spree since May’s halving. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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