PANews reported on April 11 that, according to The Block, the CME Bitcoin futures market continues to weaken. Data shows that the average daily open interest (OI) in March 2026 had fallen below $8 billion, and further dropped to about $7.2 billion in early April, a new low since February 2024, and has declined for five consecutive months. At the same time, the monthly trading volume in March fell to $163 billion, nearly halved from the peak in January 2025.

Market analysis indicates that this decline is primarily due to large-scale liquidation of basis trades. Previously, institutions profited from the price difference by buying spot ETFs and shorting CME futures, which was the core driver of CME open interest growth. However, as Bitcoin prices fell from a high of $120,000 to below $70,000, annualized basis returns were significantly compressed. Currently, the approximately 5% basis return is close to the risk-free interest rate of about 4.5%. After factoring in funding costs and counterparty risk, the arbitrage opportunity has essentially disappeared, prompting leveraged funds to withdraw.