Bitcoin Futures and Short ETFs Record Huge Volume Spike Tuesday

Increased activity came amid volatile markets as Binance revealed intention to buy FTX

article-image
share

Coinbase’s derivatives exchange and ProShares’ bitcoin ETFs notched record trading volumes Tuesday as crypto volatility ramped up both before and after Binance revealed its intention to buy rival exchange FTX.  

Bitcoin’s price dropped Tuesday and stood at about $16,750 at 1:30 p.m. ET Wednesday — down 12% in the last 24 hours. Ethereum was below $1,200 at that time, a roughly 17% drop from a day ago.

Amid the price drop, Coinbase saw 588,451 contracts trade Tuesday, between its nano bitcoin and ether futures offerings. The total was the derivatives exchange’s highest since launching on June 27 of this year.

The volumes were far greater than its second-highest volume total tallied by Coinbase derivatives — 361,304 contracts on Oct. 13.

Coinbase’s stock dropped over the past 24 hours, mirroring a trend seen across sector stocks, as FTX halted withdrawals amid a liquidity crunch. COIN’s price, which is down more than 80% so far in 2022, dropped 10% on Wednesday, as of 1:30 p.m. ET. 

Trading volumes of ProShares’ bitcoin ETFs skyrocket

The largest bitcoin futures ETF and short bitcoin ETF in the US also saw record volumes Tuesday.  

About 49 million shares of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) traded Tuesday — 64% more volume than any other day since it launched in October 2021, according to the firm.

BITO’s trading volume surpassed $1 billion roughly four hours after hitting the market a little over a year ago. The ETF, which is down about 65% year to date, had slipped by 9% on Wednesday, as of 1:30 p.m. ET.

BITO invests in front-month CME Group bitcoin futures contracts. Volumes and open interest for CME Group’s bitcoin futures hit about 49,000 contracts and 14,500 contracts, respectively, up from volumes of nearly 7,000 contracts and open interest of 12,800 contracts the day before. 

Source: CME Group

Shares traded of the ProShares Short Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITI) totaled 7.2 million Tuesday, ProShares said, representing 366% more volume than the next highest day.

The fund, which aims to profit from the price decline of bitcoin by tracking the inverse daily price movements of an index of front-month CME bitcoin futures, launched in June. BITI traded about 870,000 shares on June 22, its second day of trading.

BITI’s price was up about 9.2% on Wednesday, as of 1:30 p.m. ET. It is up roughly 9.6% year to date.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

🚀 Build What’s Next — Permissionless IV Hackathon Join us June 22–23 in Brooklyn for the Permissionless IV Hackathon — a 36-hour sprint hosted by Cracked Labs and Blockworks where top builders turn ideas into real products. Come to launch, not just […]

recent research

Research Report Templates (10).png

Research

Kamino has evolved into a full-stack asset scaling suite with V2: unlocking new markets, improving capital efficiency, and catering to various risk profiles. We believe it is best positioned to become the credit backbone of Solana as the ecosystem matures. Simply put, KMNO remains our highest-conviction bet in the Solana ecosystem. This report lays out our thesis.

article-image

Greenwood was a success story before it was a tragedy

article-image

All eight included staking in their most recent SEC filings

article-image

With an updated Summary of Economic Projections, the Fed sees growth slowing and inflation increasing

article-image

Where do crypto mobile games go from here?

article-image

Bybit’s Byreal, Binance Alpha and Coinbase’s DEX integrations

article-image

This isn’t the worst hack to ever hit Mt. Gox, but it could be the most entertaining