The latest moves in crypto markets, in context

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Market Moves

Bitcoin (BTC) was higher over the past 24 hours, changing hands around $41,100, with cryptocurrency prices higher across the board.

All members of the CoinDesk 20 were trading in the green on Thursday. Ether, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain, was up 2.4% despite this week's news that the network's much-anticipated "merge" – the proposed historic shift to a new, capital-based, proof-of-stake transaction-verification system from the current, energy-intensive, proof-of-work method – might not come in June as initially tipped.

Marcus Sotiriou, a market analyst at GlobalBlock, noted in an email that blockchain data showed signs of selling by big crypto traders known as "whales."

"At least four whales have sold their bitcoin," according to Sotiriou. "This may seem insignificant, but each of these addresses has sold more than $400 million worth of bitcoin. This is an important metric to look at because whales typically have the power to control the direction of the market."

He added, however, that he was "still optimistic for the crypto market in the short term due to reaching extreme fear and negative sentiment." Bitcoin's recent price dip below $40,000 for the first time since mid-March had sparked some speculation that a deeper pullback might toward $30,000 might be in the offing.

Whatever the price action in crypto markets, the story getting the most attention early Thursday was the billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk's offer to buy Twitter for about $41 billion. Musk has used Twitter in the past to promote dogecoin (DOGE).

Another blockchain founder, Tron's Justin Sun, tweeted soon afterward that he would offer $60 a share for the company, higher than Musk's $54.20-a-share offer detailed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Crypto Prices

Bitcoin (BTC)

See the latest price here

Ether (ETH)

See the latest price here

The following are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 digital assets over the past 24 hours:

Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive, and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk 20 is a ranking of the largest digital assets by volume on trusted exchanges.

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Latest Headlines

Bybit Replaces CME as Second-Largest Futures Exchange by Open Interest

By Lyllah Ledesma

Bybit now ranks second among bitcoin futures exchanges. (Skew)

Bybit, a cryptocurrency exchange with over 2 million registered users, has overtaken the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) as the second-largest futures exchange by open interest (OI), according to data from Skew.

Open interest is the total number of outstanding derivative contracts, such as options or futures held by market participants at the end of a day. Open interest measures the total level of activity into the futures market.

Bybit currently has $2.48 billion in BTC futures OI, whereas CME currently has $2.3 billion, according to data from Skew.

“Both retail and institutional investors tend to choose Bybit for its high liquidity, low spread and outstanding reliability when the battle between longs and shorts heat up,” said a Bybit representative in an email with CoinDesk.

Mike Schwitalla, a senior trader at Crypto Finance AG, said that a contributing factor to Bybit surpassing CME is the fact that Bybit’s leverage is much higher than on CME.

According to Matthew Dibb, Stack Funds' co-founder and chief operating officer, Bybit has become the go-to venue for high leverage trading of bitcoin futures.

“When Bybit's OI is increasing, it generally means that retail traders are using heavy margin to directionally trade,” said Dibb in an interview with CoinDesk.

“The other side of this is that in the event that there is a substantial liquidation day, Bybit usually has the highest number of traders and ($) value liquidations of any exchange,” he added.

Open interest spike on Bybit

Open interest on September futures reached $1.9 billion (Bybit)

Joshua Lim, head of derivatives at Genesis Global Trading, said there’s been a lot of speculation amongst traders over Bybit flipping CME in terms of OI. (Genesis is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which also owns CoinDesk.)

There was a large spike in BTC September futures that occurred on April 7, 2022, which has been unwound, according to Lim.

Open interest on the September futures got as high as $1.9 billion, but now sits at $677 million.

“Some traders were speculating that it was related to an exchange update that was rolled out to algo market-makers and others were speculating that it was related to some kind of basis trade being executed,” said Lim in a Telegram conversation with CoinDesk.

Consensus 2022, the must-attend crypto and blockchain experience of the year, is heading to Austin, Texas, from June 9-12. This is the only festival showcasing and celebrating all sides of the blockchain and crypto ecosystems and their wide-reaching effect on commerce, culture and communities. Register now for the lowest price.

Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments.

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