Cboe Futures Exchange (CFE) plans to offer trading in bitcoin futures beginning at 5:00 pm CT on Sunday, 10 December, 2017, at the start of Global Trading Hours. Monday, 11 December, will be the first full day of trading, and trading will be free through December.
Cboe’s bitcoin futures will trade on CFE under the ticker symbol ‘XBT.’ XBTSM futures are cash-settled contracts based on Gemini’s auction price for bitcoin, denominated in US dollars. Gemini Trust Company, LLC (Gemini) is a digital asset exchange and custodian that allows customers to buy, sell, and store digital assets such as bitcoin. XBT futures are specifically designed to allow participants to implement straightforward trading strategies, through settlement to a single, tradeable auction price.
Ed Tilly (pictured), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cboe Global Markets, says: “Given the unprecedented interest in bitcoin, it’s vital we provide clients the trading tools to help them express their views and hedge their exposure. We are committed to encouraging fairness and liquidity in the bitcoin market. To promote this, we will initially offer XBT futures trading for free.”
Tyler Winklevoss, Chief Executive Officer of Gemini, says: “Developing a regulated derivatives market is the next logical and crucial step towards advancing the broader digital asset market. We have been working for years to build infrastructure to grow the digital asset market and today’s news marks a significant milestone.”
On Friday, 1 December, Cboe announced that CFE had filed a product certification with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to offer bitcoin futures trading.
Over the last five years, the total value of all bitcoin outstanding (ie, “market capitalisation”) has grown from less than USD1 billion to over USD183 billion with daily notional turnover over USD10 billion. The total value of all cryptocurrency tokens outstanding is now approximately USD332 billion.
