The top daily news from the cryptocurrency and blockchain space:

  • ErisX granted license by U.S. regulator to clear physically-delivered cryptoasset futures contracts.
  • BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes talks to Bloomberg about bitcoin price action.
  • Nouriel Roubini’s keynote as critical as ever on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
  • Binance Futures unveiled by CZ at Asia Blockchain Summit.

At the time of writing, bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) are trading at $9,778.7 (-11.2%) and $274.6 (-7.0%), respectively. As for the MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 10 Index, it is currently tracking at 4,197.4 (-5.5%).

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ErisX Granted License to Clear Physically-Delivered Cryptoasset Futures Contracts

The U.S.-based cryptoasset spot (and soon-to-be futures) exchange announced the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) granted Eris Clearing a Derivative Clearing Organization license. 

As a registered DCO, the ErisX clearinghouse will offer the clearing of digital asset futures contracts traded on ErisX’s regulated derivatives market, which is scheduled to launch later this year. The exchange aspect of the digital asset futures contracts will run through Eris Exchange, which has held a designated contract market (DCM) license since 2011.

BitMEX CEO: Bitcoin Market Remains ‘Retail-Led Phenomenon’

The price volatility characterizing the bitcoin market very much remains a “retail-led phenomenon,” according to BitMEX co-founder and chief executive Arthur Hayes, who appeared on Bloomberg Daybreak: Asia from the sidelines of the Taipei-based Asia Blockchain Summit.

Commenting on bitcoin’s recent price action – a two-week period wherein the world’s top cryptocurrency spiked from $10,000 to nearly $14,000, then dipped all the way back to $10,000 – Hayes surmised that retail investors had once more returned to the volatile asset class, partly because of the news surrounding Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency.

Fiery Dr. Doom as Critical as Ever of Cryptocurrencies

Presenting at Asia Blockchain Summit was well-known economist and crypto-skeptic Nouriel Roubini, who put forward a number of reasons on why he believes the entire industry and asset class is “a waste of money and a waste of time.”

From the ground level, Roubini’s keynote was rather well-received. Indeed, a number of his arguments covered areas of the industry that most would admit need improving, such as liquidity issues facing exchanges designed to be decentralized.

The keynote, which also saw Roubini label Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin a “benevolent dictator,” comes on the eve of a highly anticipated debate with BitMEX’s Hayes at the conference tomorrow.

Binance Futures Unveils by CZ at Asia Blockchain Summit

Presenting at the Asia Blockchain Summit, Binance co-founder and chief executive Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao announced Binance Futures, a cryptocurrency futures trading platform that will launch in the coming months.

In explaining some of its features, CZ revealed that Binance Futures will initially support BTC/USDT futures with up to 20x leverage. Following this, Binance Futures will eventually roll-out support for not just higher leverage, but also for more cryptocurrency futures trading pairs.