Institutional exposure to cryptocurrencies via derivatives continued to grow in the second quarter, as CME Group’s newly launched Bitcoin (BTC) micro contract received considerable uptick in its first two months of trading. Since launching on May 3, CME’s Micro Bitcoin futures contract has already surpassed 1 million contracts traded, the Chicago-based derivatives market announced earlier this week. CME executive Tim McCourt said the new product has been popular among institutions and day traders seeking to hedge their spot Bitcoin price risk. Denominated at 0.1 BTC, the micro contract is one-tenth the size of one Bitcoin. By comparison, CME’s main Bitcoin …
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, or CME, has officially launched its newest Bitcoin (BTC) derivatives product, setting the stage for wider mainstream adoption of digital assets. TIm McCourt, CME Group’s global head of equity index and alternative investment products, said the new product will provide “an efficient, cost-effective way for a broad array of market participants — from institutions to sophisticated, active traders — to fine-tune their bitcoin exposure and enhance their trading strategies.” The Micro Bitcoin futures contract is worth 0.1 BTC, which provides traders with an additional tool to hedge their digital currency price risk. J. B. Mackenzie, managing …
CME Group has become the world’s largest Bitcoin (BTC) futures market following a surge in open interest over the past month, industry data shows. In a Friday tweet, Arcane Research announced that CME had overtaken OKEx as the world’s largest Bitcoin futures market. Citing data from Skew, a market intelligence firm, Arcane said open interest in CME’s Bitcoin futures contract has reached $1.16 billion. OKEx, meanwhile, registered $1.07 billion. “Institutional investors are here,” Arcane said. CME’s Bitcoin futures market has more than doubled over the past month, with more traders seeking exposure to the flagship cryptocurrency as it surged to …
As votes came in on the night of Nov. 3, the day of the U.S. presidential election, Bitcoin's (BTC) volume soared on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, or CME. "Overnight, before 9:00am NYT over 6,700 Bitcoin futures contracts traded (33,500 equivalent Bitcoin), 75% more than what has been observed YTD [year-to-date] and more than double the volume observed since launch," a CME Group spokesperson told Cointelegraph on Wednesday. 6,700 BTC CME Bitcoin futures contracts traded between 5 PM CST on Nov. 3 and 8 AM CST on Nov. 4. CME Bitcoin futures trade 23 hours per day, between 5 pm and …
The United States Bitcoin (BTC) derivatives market witnessed a slew of developments in 2019 as “old players” set trading volume records and “new players” introduced novel market products. After months of regulatory maneuvering, Bakkt finally launched and has gone on to post record Bitcoin futures trading volumes. Several platforms have also obtained Swap Execution Facility licenses from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission as the crypto derivatives arena in the country expanded throughout 2019. One of the 19 CFTC-licensed platforms, Tassat, said the approval is a preliminary step to the company listing physically settled Bitcoin derivatives for institutional clients. Overall, …