{"id":1607,"date":"2024-08-28T10:30:41","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T10:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/?p=1607"},"modified":"2024-08-28T10:30:41","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T10:30:41","slug":"massive-bitcoin-expansion-cme-debuts-friday-futures-nasdaq-pursues-btc-index-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/?p=1607","title":{"rendered":"Massive Bitcoin Expansion: CME Debuts \u2018Friday Futures,\u2019 Nasdaq Pursues BTC Index Options"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a move to broaden access to Bitcoin (BTC) futures for retail investors, CME Group has unveiled a new, smaller-sized futures contract dubbed the \u201cBitcoin Friday Futures\u201d (BFF).<\/p>\n

According to Bloomberg, the cash-settled BFF will be priced at one-50th the size of a full BTC, currently around $1,200 per contract. This is significantly more affordable than CME\u2019s existing Bitcoin futures, priced at the full Bitcoin value.<\/p>\n

CME Unveils Smaller \u2018BFF\u2019 Contracts<\/h2>\n

Giovanni Vicioso, CME Group\u2019s global head of cryptocurrency products, explained <\/a>the rationale behind the venture, highlighting the growing demand for scaled-down investment instruments among retail traders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vicioso highlighted the success of CME\u2019s existing micro BTC and Ethereum futures<\/a>, noting a surge in retail engagement, with volumes for micro-Bitcoin futures witnessing a 200% uptick this year compared to 2023.<\/p>\n

Acknowledging the landscape of retail investment preferences, Vicioso elaborated on the significance of the new BTC Friday futures in facilitating \u201cgreater accessibility and affordability for retail <\/a>participants.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

CME calls the new contracts \u201cBFF,\u201d which stands for Bitcoin Friday Futures but also playfully references the common \u201cbest friend forever\u201d acronym.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vicioso said the friendly moniker was intentional, noting, \u201cwhen you consider a product that we\u2019re launching that should have retail appeal, I love that BFF moniker.\u201d The new BFF contracts are pending regulatory review<\/a>, but are expected to launch on September 30th.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the Nasdaq seeks regulatory approval to launch options contracts tied to a Bitcoin index with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).<\/p>\n

Nasdaq Aims To Introduce Bitcoin Index Options<\/h2>\n

Reuters reported <\/a>on Tuesday that the exchange operator has filed with the US SEC to offer options on the CME CF Bitcoin Real-Time Index developed by CF Benchmarks to track BTC futures and options available on the CME Group exchange.<\/p>\n

The proposed Nasdaq BTC Index Options<\/a> would provide investors with a new way to gain exposure to and hedge price movements, complementing the suite of Bitcoin-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and futures products that have hit the market in recent months.<\/p>\n

The Nasdaq filing comes because the SEC has not approved options tied to any newly launched spot Bitcoin ETFs, including BlackRock\u2019s iShares BTC Trust ETF.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Exchanges initially applied for exchange-traded fund options shortly after the underlying funds<\/a> debuted in January but have since withdrawn and refiled those applications based on \u201cSEC feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that traders have turned to alternative BTC-linked products, such as leveraged ETFs, to get the options exposure they want. However, Matt Hougan, CIO at Asset Manager and ETF issuer Bitwise, believes that having options on a BTC index could be a valuable addition to the crypto derivatives market.<\/p>\n

When writing, the largest cryptocurrency on the market has fallen back to the $61,600 after hitting a one-month high of $65,000 on Sunday, recording a 3% drop in the 24-hour time frame.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a move to broaden access to Bitcoin (BTC) futures for retail investors, CME Group has unveiled a new, smaller-sized futures contract dubbed the \u201cBitcoin Friday Futures\u201d (BFF). According to Bloomberg, the cash-settled BFF will be priced at one-50th the size of a full BTC, currently around $1,200 per contract. This is significantly more affordable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discovery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1607"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}