Crypto trading volumes rose in June for the first time in three months amid optimism following the filing of spot bitcoin exchange-traded-fund (ETF) proposals by BlackRock and other asset managers The combined spot and derivative trading volumes on centralized exchanges climbed 14% to $2.71 trillion, according to a report by CCData. This was the first monthly increase in trading volume since March, said the report. Among other high-profile U.S. institutions that filed or refiled last month with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for spot bitcoin ETFs were Fidelity, Invesco and WisdomTree.
(CCData)
Bitcoin’s fortune is no longer tied to movement in the U.S. stock markets. The 90-day rolling correlation of changes in bitcoin’s spot price to changes in Wall Street’s tech-heavy equity index, Nasdaq and the broader S&P 500 has declined to near zero, the lowest in two years, according to data tracked by crypto derivatives analytics firm Block Scholes. “It [the correlation] is now at the lowest level observed since July 2021, when BTC was between its twin peaks in April and November,” Andrew Melville, research analyst at Block Scholes, said in an email.
Binance Australia’s office was searched by that country’s financial regulator, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC), on Tuesday, according to a report in Bloomberg. The story, citing anonymous sources, comes after the company’s derivatives license was canceled in April following an investigation into how it classified clients as professional wholesale investors in order to be saddled fewer regulatory protections than if they were regular retail customers. “We are cooperating with local authorities and Binance is focused on meeting local regulatory standards in order to serve our users in Australia in a fully compliant manner,” a Binance Australia spokesperson told CoinDesk in an e-mailed statement.
Market Insight: Self-Custody Rises in June
The supply of bitcoin and ether on centralized exchanges fell in June as ramped-up regulation and crime persuaded holders to choose self custody, Goldman Sachs said in a report Tuesday, citing on-chain data.
According to the bank’s analysis, bitcoin supply dipped 4% in June, back to near levels seen in December 2022 in wake of the FTX collapse. That December read was itself the lowest observed since November 2020, when the bull market that would eventually take bitcoin above $60,000 was getting underway. Ether supply slid 5.8% to levels not seen since May 2018.
“Major centralized spot exchanges are facing regulatory headwinds putting investors on alert, cyber hacks and theft continue to be a concern across the crypto markets,” said Goldman. “Asset holders’ preference for self custody, in line with the popular adage ‘not your keys, not your coins’, and specifically for ether, the enablement of staked ether withdrawals, has resulted in investors’ preference to stake ether, instead of passively holding on exchanges.”
The chart shows notional open interest, or the dollar amount locked in the number of active options contracts tied to bitcoin, has surged to $13.8 billion.
Market participants are seeking exposure to risk-defined derivatives instruments, per Glassnode.
Glassnode tracks open interest on Deribit, CME, FTX and OKX.
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