coindesk.com
The big U.S. commodities exchange CME launched its “Micro Bitcoin” futures product, capitalizing on bitcoin’s price rally this year and building upon the successful launch in 2017 of a regular futures contract on the largest cryptocurrency.
The new effort was announced in late March but has just opened for trading.
- “At one-tenth the size of one bitcoin (BTC), micro bitcoin futures will provide an efficient, cost-effective way for a broad array of market participants – from institutions to sophisticated, active traders – to fine-tune their bitcoin exposure and enhance their trading strategies,” wrote Time McCourt, head of equity index and alternative investment products at CME Group in the exchange’s press release.
- “By lowering the barrier of entry, more traders will be able to gain exposure to bitcoin,” said John Bartleman, president of TradeStation Group, the parent company of online securities and futures brokerage firms which will offer clients micro BTC futures.
- "At the 6pm open last night, we executed the first block trade of 140 lots for two of our clients – Genesis Trading and XBTO. These smaller right-sized CME Micro bitcoin futures contracts will make crypto futures trading more accessible for traders of all sizes," wrote Dudley Brooks, global head of digital assets at ED&F Man Capital Markets, a financial brokerage firm.
- The CME micro bitcoin futures are cash-settled and based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate.