Share this article
CME Announces Ether Futures Contracts
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) announced Wednesday it will launch a futures contract on ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, in February.
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 10:43 a.m. Published Dec 16, 2020, 3:05 p.m.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) announced Wednesday it will launch a futures contract on ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, in February 2021.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Verpassen Sie keine weitere Geschichte.Abonnieren Sie noch heute den Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter. Alle Newsletter ansehen
- Ether futures will be listed on Feb. 8, more than three years after bitcoin futures went live.
- Each contract will have 50 units of ether and the derivative product will be open to trade between 5:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m CT from Sunday to Friday, according to the official announcement.
- The new contracts will use the CME CF ether-dollar reference rate from CF Benchmarks, the FCA-approved crypto indices provider.
- "Building on the success of bitcoin futures and options, CME Group will add ether futures to the cryptocurrency risk-management solutions available to trade in February," the exchange said.
- Futures are derivative financial contracts that obligate parties to buy and sell a particular asset of a specific quantity and at a predetermined price, at a specified date in the future.
- CME's announcement of an ether futures contract has coincided with bitcoin's much-anticipated break above $20,000.
- The exchange rolled out bitcoin futures three years ago after the cryptocurrency reached a record price of $19,783. The derivative contracts were reportedly approved by the Trump administration to prick the bitcoin bubble.
- However, since then, CME has steadily climbed ranks to become the third-largest bitcoin futures exchange by open interest. Many observers consider it to be synonymous with institutional trading.
- "Today's CME news shows institutional demand continues to spill into other leading digital assets, such as Ether," CF Benchmarks CEO Sui Chung told CoinDesk in an email. "CF Benchmarks' regulated, replicable and robust indices will now act as the foundations for leading providers, like CME, to develop cryptocurrency markets fully fit for the 'institutionalization' of crypto."
- While bitcoin is currently trading near $20,600, ether is changing hands near $600, still down 50% from record highs.
More For You
Solana CME Futures Fell Short of BTC and ETH Debuts, but There's a Catch
When adjusted for asset market capitalization SOL's relative futures volume looks better, K33 Research noted.
What to know:
- Solana's SOL futures began trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) on Monday, with a notional daily volume of $12.3 million and $7.8 million in open interest, significantly lower than the debuts of bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) futures.
- Despite the seemingly lackluster debut, when adjusted to market value, SOL's first-day figures are more in line with BTC's and ETH's, according to K33 Research.
- Despite the bearish market conditions, the launch of CME SOL futures offers new ways for institutions to manage their exposure to the token, said Joshua Lim of FalconX.
Top Stories
