CME Bitcoin futures open interest falls to $8.41 billion, hitting a 14-month low

Gate News message: On April 11, the open interest (OI) of Bitcoin futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) fell to $8.41 billion, the lowest level in 14 months. Glassnode analysts noted that this trend is mainly driven by the unwinding of basis trades. Previously, this strategy used spot ETFs to build long exposure and hedged the short positions in futures to profit from the price spread, but recently the annualized return has dropped from 15%-20% to around 5%, prompting institutions to take profits. In addition, daily trading volume for CME Bitcoin futures has also shrunk to below $3 billion. Analysts believe that as institutional demand shifts toward directly holding spot, the leverage level in the futures market is declining significantly.