CME Group (“CME”), the world’s “most diverse derivatives marketplace” announced on Friday (September 20) that it is planning, subject to regulatory approval, to launch options on its BTC futures contracts in Q1 2020.
CME’s cash-settled Bitcoin futures were launched in December 2017. CME’s press release says that, since then, over 3,300 individual accounts have traded this product, and that so far in 2019, on average, almost 7,000 CME Bitcoin futures contracts have traded each day.
Furthermore, CME says that “institutional interest continues to build with the number of large open interest holders reaching a record 56 in July.”
Tim McCourt, CME Group Global Head of Equity Index and Alternative Investment Products, had this to say about today’s announcement:
Based on increasing client demand and robust growth in our Bitcoin futures markets, we believe the launch of options will provide our clients with additional flexibility to trade and hedge their bitcoin price risk. These new products are designed to help institutions and professional traders to manage spot market bitcoin exposure, as well as hedge Bitcoin futures positions in a regulated exchange environment.
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