US-based multinational investment bank JPMorgan reportedly disclosed insights suggesting institutional investors are beginning to lean towards Ether derivatives rather than Bitcoin futures. 

Specifically, via an investor note on September 22nd, analysts at the Wall Street bank reportedly shared that the trading for Bitcoin futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) witnessed a discount, in comparison with spotting  BTC prices throughout September.

As a result, Ether-powered offerings have reportedly witnessed a surge, popularity-wise, with investors pivoting to the internationally most major crypto asset. 

“This is a setback for Bitcoin and a reflection of weak demand by institutional investors that tend to use regulated CME futures contracts to gain exposure to Bitcoin” The analysts reportedly remarked, claiming that a “strong divergence in demand” took place.

When demand sees a rise, BTC futures normally trade at a premium over the spot markets because of high BTC storage costs and enticing yields for passive crypto investing, the analysts additionally claimed.

Per insights produced by CME, the 21-day average ETH futures premium went through an incline, reaching up to 1% over Ether prices on the spot markets, suggesting “much healthier demand for Ethereum vs. Bitcoin by institutional investors”. 

Binance is reportedly taking the top spot across the sector when it comes to BTC futures volumes, with $20 billion traded throughout the last 24 hours. OKEx follows behind with $5.36 billion and CME stands at third with just $2.34 billion traded over the past 24 hours.

Institutional adoption has also had further updates also, with two trust funds based on Bitcoin and Ethereum have been introduced by California-headquartered Cambrian Asset Management.