CME Ether options trading volume hit a record high in May.
Monthly trading volume for Chicago Mercantile Exchange options on Ether futures hit an all-time high this month.
According to The Block’s data dashboard, CME Ether futures options trading volume in May reached $1.26 billion, with two days left in May. This is a significant increase from April’s volume of $615.75 million and the highest monthly volume on record, according to data from The Block.
According to Wednesday’s Wintermute market update, the amount of outstanding Ether futures contracts on CME is approaching all-time highs.
Wintermute analysts suggested that this increase in open interest indicates that institutional investors are increasingly interested in trading ether compared to bitcoin, in anticipation of the upcoming launch of a spot ether ETF.
“CME open interest for Ether is near all-time highs, indicating institutional interest in Ether. 
ETH
-2.53%
Analysts at Wintermute said they are moving ahead with BTC trading ahead of the S-1 filing and final launch.
Implied volatility in Ethereum options surges
Ethereum’s implied volatility, which measures market expectations of future volatility over a specific period of time based on option prices, has spiked noticeably as expectations of significant price movements have risen, according to Wintermute.
“Significant spikes in one-week, one-month, three-month and six-month at-the-money (ATM) implied volatility were observed,” Wintermute analysts added.
According to The Block’s pricing page, the price of Ether has fallen more than 2.2% over the past 24 hours, trading at $3,804 at 7:56 a.m. ET.
The GM 30 Index, which represents the top 30 cryptocurrencies, decreased 1% to 145.18 during the same period.
Disclaimer: Evgeny Gaevoy, founder and CEO of Wintermute, previously served on The Block’s Board of Directors from April 2023 to early November 2023 and remains a minority shareholder.
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