While cryptocurrency markets are experiencing another crash this Monday, major digital asset platform Bakkt has some good news. Referred to as one of the most promising crypto-related initiatives for its physically settled Bitcoin (BTC) futures, Bakkt has now raised an additional $300 million to continue developing digital asset-focused services, the firm’s new CEO Mike Blandina announced on March 16. Closed the funding round on March 13, Bakkt has now totally raised $482.5 million According to the announcement, the Series B financing round featured Bakkt’s parent company, the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Microsoft’s venture capital arm M12, fintech firm PayU, Boston Consulting …

As the adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) sidechains continues to grow, a major Bitcoin sidechain, the Liquid Network, will soon host a token sale. BTSE, a multi-currency digital asset and derivatives exchange, plans to launch its Liquid Network-powered token sale on March 5, 2020, the exchange tweeted on Feb. 25. According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, BTSE has recently completed a private sale round featuring high-profile investors like major digital asset manager FBG Capital. Other investors included early stage investment firm Lemniscap, CMS Holdings, Taureon Capital, GBCI Ventures and BCB Blockchain, as BTSE CEO Jonathan Leong noted. First-ever native exchange …

Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced that it is about to launch a new futures product tracking crypto asset NEO. Per the announcement published on Feb. 16, the NEO/USDT futures will be launched on Feb. 17 and traders will be able to select leverage between 1x and 50x. The fees that the exchange imposes on trades of the contract in question are a 2% base initial margin rate, 1% base maintenance margin rate and a 0.5% liquidation fee. What is NEO? The Binance information page dedicated to NEO explains that it is an open source platform driven by its community that …

Leading Japanese consulting firm Nomura Research Institute (NRI) partnered with cryptocurrency investment solution provider Intelligence Unit (IU) to launch a tradable cryptocurrency index. According to a press release published on Jan. 29, the new index’s name is NRI/IU Crypto-Asset Index and it is meant for use by financial institutions. The index also draws data from crypto index platform MVIS and major cryptocurrency data platform CryptoCompare. The dedicated website explains that the index is meant to cover global crypto markets in U.S. dollars and Japanese yen by tracking the largest cryptocurrencies. The index was designed for Japanese institutional investors with consideration …

Swiss cryptocurrency financial firm Amun AG launched an Exchange Traded Product (ETP) giving investors inverse exposure to Bitcoin (BTC), called 21Shares Short Bitcoin (SBTC). As Cointelegraph Japan reported earlier today, Amun launched the derivative in question on Jan. 22 on Switzerland’s leading stock exchange, Six Swiss Exchange. The description of the product on the firm’s official website is as follows: “The 21Shares Short Bitcoin ETP (Ticker: SBTC) seeks to provide a -1x return to the performance of Bitcoin for a single day. This product obtains short exposure through borrowing Bitcoin and simultaneously selling it on an execution platform.” According to …

In the two years since it launched cash-settled Bitcoin futures, CME has firmly established itself as a leader in the regulated crypto derivatives space despite not always being the first to market. In December 2017, it launched regulated Bitcoin futures a week after rival exchange CBOE. However, it only took 15 months for CBOE to completely withdraw from the market. By August, CME had announced record highs for Bitcoin futures trading. Most recently, Bakkt came into the market ahead of CME with its regulated options on Bitcoin futures. However, after successfully launching its own options contracts on Jan. 13, it …

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has received necessary regulatory approval and has launched its new Bitcoin (BTC) futures options as of today, Jan. 13. According to the official website of CME, the new type of Bitcoin derivatives contract — Bitcoin futures options — is now live, which comes in line with the company’s plans announced in November 2019. CME’s Bitcoin futures options was subject to “regulatory approval” earlier in the day Specifically, the launch of CME’s Bitcoin futures options follows regulatory approval that the exchange received earlier today, as reported by Cointegraph. As of press time, the approval notice has …

Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange FTX has launched Bitcoin (BTC) options trading on Jan. 11. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried announced in a tweet yesterday that options were listed on the trading platform. Furthermore, later the same day he also claimed that options trading volume on the exchange reached $1 million in about 2 hours. Noteworthy volume While the announcement does not specify which crypto assets are supported by the options just launched on the platform, the website only shows Bitcoin-based options. According to cryptocurrency data website CoinGecko, FTX is the eighth top crypto asset exchange based on volume, with $277,8 million traded …

Crypto derivatives exchange Deribit is leaving the European Union for Panama to avoid new AML rules while changing its Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements. Deribit B.V., the current Netherlands-based company responsible for the Deribit.com exchange, will officially delegate the trading platform to its daughter company, DRB Panama Inc. on Feb. 10, 2020, a Jan. 9 statement from Deribit said. Changing regulatory winds Deribit has decided to transfer to Panama based on the stated likelihood of tightening regulatory demands in the Netherlands, resulting from similar demands seen across the EU, the Deribit statement noted. These requirements, known as 5AMLD, pertain to …

Former Bakkt CEO and Georgia's new Senator Kelly Loeffler will help oversee major financial regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Sworn into the United States Senate on Jan. 6, the crypto-friendly businesswoman has joined the Senate Agriculture Committee, which oversees the CFTC. The news was first reported by farm and policy publication Agri-Pulse on Jan. 6, while the official announcement was released on Jan. 7. Potential conflict of interest: CFTC regulates ICE’s markets Loeffler’s appointment to the agriculture committee is potentially setting up a conflict of interest as the new Senator is spouse of Jeffrey Sprecher, founder and CEO …

The South Korean Presidential Committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (PCFIR) has recommended the government to allow financial institutions to launch cryptocurrency-based financial products. Local English-language news outlet BusinessKorea reported on Jan. 6 that the committee recommended products such as Bitcoin (BTC) derivatives to be allowed as part of a strategy for the institutionalization of cryptocurrencies. Crypto assets are here to stay The PCFIR also suggested that the local financial sector should develop and introduce a Korean custody solution to avoid relying only on foreign custodians when handling crypto assets. The committee also noted that Bitcoin should be listed directly …

The BitMEX Insurance Fund has added nearly 13,000 BTC in 2019, reaching a total of just over 33,491 BTC as of Dec. 30. This is equivalent to 0.19% of the total Bitcoin in circulation, based on the data available at Blockchain.com. The fund, which the cryptocurrency exchange set up to ensure that liquidation orders related to leveraged positions are filled, ended 2018 with almost 20,800 BTC. This means that the fund has seen a 61% increase since the start of 2019. How does the BitMEX Insurance Fund work? Crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX set up the fund to give margin traders …