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The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is gaining ground on Binance in the futures market, with its notional open interest nearing $3.54 billion, compared to Binance's $3.83 billion, according to data from Coinglass. This development mirrors the early stages of the 2020-21 bull run and signals the growing influence of traditional financial institutions in the cryptocurrency sector.

With CME's cash-settled Bitcoin futures contracts surpassing the 100,000 BTC mark, a record-breaking open interest has been observed, indicating an increase in institutional interest. In addition, CME's market share has reached a lifetime high of 25%. Unlike offshore exchanges that focus on perpetual futures contracts, CME offers a variety of standard and micro Bitcoin and futures contracts that cater to different types of investors.

The rise of CME can be attributed to several factors. One is an institutional-led rally that saw Bitcoin's value surge by 27% this month. Another is the increasing popularity of futures-based Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) among retail investors. ProShares' Bitcoin futures ETF, which invests in CME's Bitcoin futures contracts, has seen a significant volume increase as reported by Matrixport.

André Dragosch of Deutsche Digital Assets suggests that another contributing factor could be the unwinding of bearish bets on offshore exchanges. This combination of institutional and retail engagement, along with macroeconomic factors and optimism for a spot Bitcoin ETF, seems to be driving CME's rise in the Bitcoin futures market.

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