As CME's futures market closed on Friday, the bitcoin BTC$77,863.55 derivatives were priced at $84,445 on the exchange. When trading resumed Sunday evening, they opened at $77,385 reflecting the largest cryptocurrency's spot-market slide to as low as $75,000 on Saturday. This price discrepancy created a gap in the CME bitcoin futures pricing.

A CME gap is the difference between the futures price at closing time and the price when the exchange next opens. Because, unlike spot BTC, the futures do not trade 24/7, significant price moves can occur during daily maintenance breaks or over weekends to produce the gaps.

These gaps are closely watched by traders. Historically, they tend to fill within days or weeks, though sometimes over a longer timeframe. While gap-filling is an observed tendency rather than a certainty, it seems to occur more often than not.

As of press time, spot bitcoin is trading around $77,800, while CME bitcoin futures are priced near $78,230. This places the futures roughly 7%-8% below Friday’s CME close.

CME bitcoin futures are cash settled contracts designed to track the price of the largest cryptocurrency. Trading pauses for an hour a day and remains closed over the weekend.