CME Group’s micro bitcoin futures hit 1 million contracts traded – Finance Bitcoin News
More than a million contracts have already been traded with the micro-bitcoin futures of the CME Group (Chicago Mercantile Exchange). This instrument enables institutions and retailers to invest in the crypto asset at a lower price of 0.1 bitcoin. The contract has only been available for seven weeks, and demand shows that there is still room for new derivatives in the crypto market.
CME Micro Bitcoin Futures are selling big
When the CME launched a new line of Bitcoin derivative contracts aimed at smaller investors nearly two months ago, it hadn’t expected as much of a stir. However, based on volume figures, there seems to be a need in the market for a more detailed bitcoin exposure. Now that more than a million micro bitcoin futures contracts have changed hands, this is a huge milestone for a very young instrument. That’s an even bigger feat considering that cryptocurrency is still a niche market.
According to Tim McCourt, the global leader in equity index and alternative investment products for CME Group, the design of this product is key to its success. He stated:
This micro-sized contract is intended to provide market participants – from institutions to smaller, discerning, active traders – with another tool to hedge their spot Bitcoin price risk or to execute Bitcoin trading strategies efficiently, inexpensively and easily accessible.
The micro-bitcoin futures were launched back in May and opened the regulated crypto derivatives market to micro-investors. With these contracts, CME is addressing two main concerns for potential cryptocurrency investors: the high entry price and the need for regulated instruments.
Brokers agree
Brokers and investment services companies have also seen significant demand for micro-bitcoin futures. Martin Franchi, CEO of Ninjatrader Group, stated that these contracts have become increasingly popular in the industry. Franchi emphasized:
We have seen that the rapid popularity of this new microcontract among the Ninjatrader user community correlates with the growing demand from cryptocurrency traders interested in the ability to diversify and leverage professional tools for their trading.
Ninjatrader has a community of more than 60,000 customers. Steven Sanders, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Product Development at Interactive Brokers, stated at his introduction:
This smaller contract will allow more of our discerning, individual customers to participate in the market and enable our institutional customers to manage their Bitcoin exposure more precisely.
This new pricing strategy could allow new customers to enter more regulated marketplaces like CME. While derivatives are still heavily focused on unregulated platforms, this may change in the future. CME’s micro bitcoin futures are part of an interesting strategy to achieve this change.
What do you think of the popularity of CME’s micro bitcoin futures? Let us know in the comments section below.
Photo credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, CME Group,
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