The CME Group has officially launched 24/7 trading for Bitcoin futures and options, a significant move that eliminates the longstanding weekend trading gap. This development allows for continuous trading on the Globex platform, with a brief maintenance period each Sunday.
Previously, the market closure from Friday to Sunday created inefficiencies, leading to speculative trading around anticipated price movements known as "gap fills." The new trading model aligns futures trading with the constant nature of the Bitcoin spot market, improving hedging opportunities for institutional investors.
Despite this advancement, liquidity remains concentrated in offshore perpetual contracts and ETF options, with BlackRock's IBIT options showing open interest between $27 billion and $30 billion, far surpassing CME’s $800 million to $900 million in Bitcoin futures options.
