The Chicago Mercantile Commutation, or CME, has recorded significant volume for its Bitcoin (BTC) futures trading product over the course of the last 12 months. "More than 2.ii+ million contracts were traded in 2020," a CME representative told Cointelegraph. Each greenbacks-settled Bitcoin futures contract at the CME is worth the dollar value of 5 Bitcoin.

The trading hub recorded higher than normal numbers as Bitcoin's price heated up in Dec 2020 following a break of its 2017 all-time price high of $19,892 on Dec. 1. "BTC average daily volume (ADV) reached 11,179 contracts (55.9K equivalent bitcoin) in December, up 114% YoY [year over year]," the CME representative said.

Average daily open involvement, or ADOI, "reached a record of 11,108 contracts (55,540 equivalent bitcoin) in Q4, upward 233% vs. Q4 2019," according to a statement from CME Group. Large players likewise showed upwardly for trading, axiomatic in the exchange's large open interest holders, or LOIH, count. "The number of LOIH grew to a tape of 110 in the start week of December, indicating strengthening institutional interest," the CME representative said.

The CME is planning a February launch for its Ether (ETH) futures, which were initially announced in December 2020.

A number of large financial entities expressed involvement in Bitcoin in 2020, including MicroStrategy and Square, which allocated big sums of capital to crypto's first asset.