Citigroup has applied for approval to start trading CME’s bitcoin future, the most successful crypto derivatives that has seen a spike in trading this year.

The US investment bank said it has applied to start trading the CME bitcoin future amid demand from its varied client base.

A spokesperson for Citi said: “Our clients are increasingly interested in this space, and we are monitoring these developments. Given the many questions around regulatory frameworks, supervisory expectations, and other factors, we are being very thoughtful about our approach.”

The spokesperson added: “We are presently considering products such as futures for some of our institutional clients, as these operate under strong regulatory frameworks.”

CME Group’s bitcoin future, launched in late 2017, was one of the first to come to market and it has since proved the most successful crypto-currency futures product.

The Chicago-listed bitcoin futures traded 635,000 lots in the first six months of this year which was up 383% on the same period in 2020, according to data from trade body the FIA.

The increasing popularity of digital currencies is attracting new clients, like Citigroup, and prompting exchanges to launch new products based on bitcoin and other crypto-currencies.

Eurex said on Friday it will launch its first futures contract based on a bitcoin exchange-traded note on September 13.

Austria’s Wiener Bourse started trading last week three new crypto-based structured products backed by Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.

CME launched in May a micro bitcoin futures contract that traded over 80,000 lots in its first week.