The global demand from investors and speculators for Bitcoin has been rising steadily. After 2017’s crazy bull run, no one wants to miss out on the next leg up. Despite all of the hardship during Q1 of 2018, it seems things are looking up again. LedgerX has confirmed that its Bitcoin derivatives trading volume is increasing rapidly.
Bitcoin Derivatives Are Very Popular
Providing traditional investment vehicles linked to cryptocurrencies is not a straightforward process. Even though Bitcoin derivatives allow investors to be exposed to BTC price volatility without having to buy the currency directly, there is always a big question as to whether or not such products will ever gain any real traction.
This is mainly due to the fact that Bitcoin remains an unregulated market in most Western countries. On paper, that makes a lot of sense, as one cannot regulate something that is not centralized. Despite that obvious roadblock, governments continue to make inroads in the Bitcoin regulation department. In a lot of cases, this has led to an outright ban on all activity, as has happened in China and India in recent months.
For LedgerX, the demand for its Bitcoin derivatives is not slowing down despite this regulatory pressure. That in itself is an interesting and pretty positive development. It confirms that institutional investors still want access to Bitcoin’s volatility through more convenient investment vehicles. Over the past half-year, the company has noted a sevenfold increase in its trading volume.
To some people, this may seem like a minor gain. Given the relative “newness” of these products, it is only normal that a lot of investors maintain a wait-and-see approach first and foremost. That situation has come to change ever so slightly in recent months, as more and more people agree that the Bitcoin price will continue to rise in the coming months.
Even though the number of options contracts and swap trades is still well below five-digit figures, the uptrend remains in place regardless. Even so, we’ve seen a similar demand for Bitcoin futures, as that trading volume has also increased slightly over the past few months. All of this seems to indicate that the future looks rather bright for Bitcoin, although it is still too early to make any accurate predictions in this regard.
Unlike what most people would have expected, the dip in the early months of 2018 has not made any meaningful impact on the derivatives trading volume for LedgerX. In fact, the company has stated that this much-needed correction made people realize that there would be future upward momentum once things calmed down a bit. Some even took advantage of this increased volatility, which further contributed to the company’s overall trading volume. Long-term holders are not necessarily the clientele of this trading firm; that much is evident.
How all of this will play out throughout the rest of 2018 remains to be determined. With the Bitcoin price following a nice path of recovery as of right now, anything is possible once again. A rising BTC value should – under normal circumstances – further improve the position of LedgerX in the derivatives market.
