CME Solana Futures Trading Volume Surges by 252% in a Month

In July, the trading volume of Solana futures on the CME Group exchange reached $8.1 billion. This marks a 252% increase from June, when the figure was $2.3 billion, reports The Block. 

Open interest (OI) in SOL contracts rose by 203% — from $132.3 million in June to $400.9 million in July. 

CME launched Solana futures in March of this year. The exchange introduced the new instruments in two variants: 

• micro contracts — based on 25 SOL;
• larger contracts — on 500 SOL.

What is driving the growth? 

Initially, Solana futures attracted little attention: by the end of March, trading volume was $12.3 million, according to K33 Research. However, activity surged in July, driven by interest in potential ETFs based on the altcoin. 

“A step closer to a Solana exchange-traded fund,” noted VanEck’s head of digital asset research, Matthew Sigel, when CME announced the launch of SOL futures. 

On July 31, VanEck, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, CoinShares, Canary, and Bitwise filed updated S-1 forms with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Asset managers did the same before the regulator approved the launch of Bitcoin and Ethereum-based exchange-traded funds, thus bolstering investor optimism about the emergence of a Solana ETF. 

In July, trading also began for shares of the REX-Osprey SOL + Staking ETF (SSK). It operates under the 1940 Act, unlike standard crypto ETFs, but directly invests in Solana, staking at least 50% of its assets. 

“The listing of such an ETF increases activity in the futures market, as market makers use derivatives to hedge their positions,” explained Presto’s head of research, Peter Chan. 

BTC and ETH Futures Continue to Dominate 

Despite record figures, Solana futures still significantly lag behind CME’s comparable products for Bitcoin and Ethereum.

In July, the total volume of contracts based on digital gold rose by 23% to $275.3 billion. Meanwhile, the average OI increased by 8.5% to $17.8 billion. 

During the same period, trading volume for Ethereum futures jumped by 82% to $118.1 billion. The average OI reached $5.2 billion, showing a 75% increase.  

Back in June, on the 4th, the Moscow Exchange launched trading in futures on shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF by BlackRock.