Bitcoin resumed its epic rally today as CBOE counts down to the launch futures on the cryptocurrency this Sunday, Dec. 10. On Thursday, the price of bitcoin surged past $16,000.
On Friday, Dec. 1, Cboe announced that CFE had filed a product certification with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to offer bitcoin futures trading. CBOE is one of several major U.S. exchange operators to announce efforts to launch bitcoin futures.
“Bitcoin began 2017 at less than $1,000 per token, but it has been on an absolute tear in recent months: It crossed $5,000 in October and touched above $11,000 for the first time less than two months later, according to CoinDesk data,” reports CNBC.
Last month, bitcoin surged to another record after CME Group Inc., the world’s largest exchange owner, said it plans to launch bitcoin futures before the end of this year. CME’s launch of bitcoin futures in the fourth quarter of 2017 will be pending all relevant regulatory review periods.
The new contract will be cash-settled, based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate (BRR) which serves as a once-a-day reference rate of the U.S. dollar price of bitcoin. Bitcoin futures will be listed on and subject to the rules of CME.
Also in November, it was reported that Nasdaq Inc. could launch futures based on the soaring cryptocurrency next year. The exchange operator did not confirm the news.
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.
It is also widely expected that bitcoin futures could pave the way for an exchange traded fund based on those derivatives. Previously, regulators have rebuffed issuers’ efforts to introduce bitcoin ETFs in part because some of those proposed products were based on a derivatives market for the cryptocurrency that did not yet exist.
In recent weeks, several ETF issuers have also filed plans for blockchain ETFs, which would hold stocks with exposure to the digital currency trade.
For more information on the cryptocurrency market, visit our Bitcoin category.