The ice has broken – the Chicago Mercantile Exchange launched trading of cryptocurrency futures overnight from December 17 to 18, 2017. More specifically, this concerns Bitcoin futures. The expiration dates for the exchange contracts are set for January, February, and March of the following year.
CME Group opens trading of Bitcoin futures
Immediately after the start of trading for January contracts, the cryptocurrency fell from $20,800 to two and a half thousand dollars, but after reaching a low, the Bitcoin futures strengthened and rose by $1,000. Regarding long-term contracts, there was no price decline on the exchange. As for the number of contracts concluded, there is currently calm in the new market. During half a day of trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, 666 cryptocurrency futures contracts were sold for a total of 3,333 BTC.
Experts note that after the start of trading, investor interest in short contracts was driven by curiosity, as they decided to “play” with the new currency and test its stability. Considering the forecast of Bitcoin reaching $100,000 per coin by the end of 2018, set by Jamie Dimon (CEO of JPMorgan Chase), interest in futures will grow if the exchange properly handles short contracts.
