According to Jinse Finance, Tim McCourt, Senior Managing Director of CME Group, stated in an interview with Hong Kong media Ming Pao that the open interest of CME Group's virtual currency instruments has approached $40 billion, with strong investment market demand from the Asia-Pacific region. He noted that a reduction in US interest rates would trigger non-US funds to seek hedging opportunities. For example, in the GMT+8 time zone, many institutional investors have already begun shifting their investments toward virtual currencies.