Derivatives help increase liquidity and improve markets for an asset category by allowing investors to bet on ups and downs of an asset, evening allowing individuals to adopt market-neutral strategies. They are also a key component in the creation of many futures-backed ETFs utilized by a range of investors.
Although bitcoin futures were viewed by many market observers as a potential segue to ETFs backed by the digital currency, U.S. regulators have yet to approve any such funds.
In fact, ETF issuers have been withdrawing plans for bitcoin funds. Direxion, ProShares and VanEck are among a handful of ETF issuers that have withdrawn filings to launch bitcoin ETFs at the request of U.S. regulators. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requested the issuers withdraw their filings.
“Concannon didn’t specify which digital tokens are ripe for Cboe’s attention. All Bitcoin in circulation are worth $182 billion,” according to Coinmarketcap.com. Four others have market values that exceed $10 billion: Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash (an offshoot of the original Bitcoin) and Litecoin,” according to Bloomberg.
For more information on the cryptocurrency, visit our Bitcoin category.