The world's largest futures exchange CME Group is aiming to capitalise on this year's surge in money managers' demand for cryptocurrency exposure with the launch of bitcoin spot trading on its platform, according to a report by the Financial Times.

The report cites three unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter as revealing that the Chicago-based group has been holding discussions with traders who want to buy and sell the cryptocurrency on a regulated marketplace.

The plan to launch spot bitcoin trading, which has yet to be finalised, according to the FT's sources, will complement CME's existing bitcoin futures trading business and make it easier for investors to place so-called basis trades which exploit the small price differences between futures contracts and their underlying assets.

The proposed new bitcoin spot trading business would be run through CME's EBS currency trading venue in Switzerland, which has extensive regulations governing the trading and storing of crypto assets, according to the FT's sources.