The open interest of Bitcoin (BTC) hit a staggering $19.8 billion on Oct. 15. The data from CryptoQuant reflects an increasing demand for the largest cryptocurrency, indicating just how much new money has entered digital asset markets in the last couple of months.

Funding rates have jumped to their highest levels since August, suggesting that most of those open positions are long positions expecting further appreciation. While increased open interest usually represents a positive indication of Bitcoin’s price action, some market observers have expressed concern that the increased volatility may be threatened. The highly leveraged nature of the futures market would ultimately pave the way for large-scale liquidations if and when sudden price swings occur.

These concerns can perhaps be somewhat quelled by the nature of the futures contracts behind the surge in open interest. According to data from Glassnode, a large number of Bitcoin futures contracts are cash-margined and not crypto-margined, meaning they are collateralized by U.S. dollars or dollar-pegged stablecoins and not cryptocurrencies themselves.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has become the largest player, with 40% of all cash-margined contracts. The clear dominance of these institutional-grade futures products suggests that professional investors have been increasingly positioning Bitcoin futures as an essential building block of their trading programs.

This is not the only form that institutional interest in Bitcoin is taking, however. Since their creation, spot Bitcoin ETFs have collected nearly $20 billion in net inflows, further demonstrating mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a legitimate asset class.

Bitcoin’s total futures open interest stands at 574,680 BTC; the leading exchange, CME, has $11.07 billion in open contracts, followed by Binance with $8.01 billion and ByBit with $5.61 billion.