CME Ethereum Futures OI Hits Record High as Tom Lee Targets 5% Supply Stake

CME Ethereum Futures’ open interest has reached a new record high, surpassing $10 billion. This comes as institutional adoption grows, with Tom Lee’s Bitmine now aiming to own 5% of ETH’s supply.

CME Ethereum Futures Open Interest Surge Past $10B

The open interest (OI) in Ethereum Futures on the CME topped $10 billion for the first time, according to data from CryptoQuant. This shows growing institutional activity. The number of large open interest holders reached a record high of 101 earlier this month.

Open interest shows the total dollar value of active contracts. The CME offers standard contracts of 50 ETH and micro contracts of 0.1 ETH. Both types are growing fast, with over 500,000 open micro contracts and options OI exceeding $1 billion.

Beyond CME activity, spot ETH ETFs are also fueling institutional demand. U.S.-listed ETFs recorded $3.69 billion in inflows this month alone. It records a cumulative total of $13.64 billion.

Additionally, BlackRock’s Ethereum ETF posted inflows of 67,899 ETH ($314.9 million) on August 25. This supports the more general bullish narrative about Ethereum’s potential and follows a solid rebound after a period of outflows.

 The CME Ethereum Futures open interest hit a new all-time high of $7.85 billion earlier in July. The consistent inflows and future growth suggest that institutions are viewing ETH as a credible hedge and long-term investment.

Tom Lee Eyes 5% of ETH Supply

A prominent crypto expert, CryptoISO, has highlighted that Tom Lee would need to purchase an additional 4.3 million ETH to reach a 5% stake in the supply. This is given his current reported holdings of 1.7 million ETH. At today’s prices, this would require nearly $19.5 billion in capital.

Lee’s recent activity shows progress toward that goal. BitMine announced that its treasury expanded by $2.2 billion in one week. This includes its recent purchase of 190,000 ETH ($873 million). With Ethereum holdings jumping from 1.52 million to 1.71 million tokens, the company’s total assets increased to $8.8 billion.

Interestingly, Tom Lee has continuously stated that he is bullish about digital assets.  He recently predicted that Bitcoin could reach $1 million and Ethereum could reach $60,000. Lee also compared cryptocurrency to a form of “universal basic income,” where those who get in early benefit the most.

He believes that large investment funds and institutions will start putting more money into crypto. With the growing popularity of CME Ethereum Futures and increased ETF investments, the market appears to be following his vision.

It’s also worth noting that the Ethereum price has had a remarkable month. The token climbed over 20% and set a new all-time high at $4,956.