Based on a report done by Arcane Research, there has been an exponential growth this month in Bakkt Bitcoin futures contracts. According to the report, 230 Bakkt Bitcoin futures contracts went to delivery on Jan 17th. This makes up for an over $2 million in notional value.
Read the full weekly report by Arcane Research here.
Significant increase
This is a 1,600% increase from December, where there was only 8 futures contracts that went to delivery. 230 BTC is a small amount compared to daily trading volumes on Bakkt, but it does indicate growing demand for holding bitcoin at an institutional level for traders rather than solely trading.
Direct Correlation with Bitcoin demand?
The appetite for bitcoin seems to be growing among intuitional investors. Last week, Arcane Research reported on the notable increase in open interest on CME. Now the evidence of growing demand for bitcoin on Bakkt as well. ED&F Man Capital Markets cleared almost 98% of the 230 delivered BTC last week, which both Digital Galaxy and XBTO have used earlier for clearing. As Digital Galaxy launched two bitcoin funds late last year, this may be the source to this significant increase.