In a transfer to broaden entry to Bitcoin (BTC) futures for retail buyers, CME Group has unveiled a brand new, smaller-sized futures contract dubbed the “Bitcoin Friday Futures” (BFF).
In response to Bloomberg, the cash-settled BFF will probably be priced at one-Fiftieth the scale of a full BTC, at present round $1,200 per contract. That is considerably extra inexpensive than CME’s present Bitcoin futures, priced on the full Bitcoin worth.
CME Unveils Smaller ‘BFF’ Contracts
Giovanni Vicioso, CME Group’s world head of cryptocurrency merchandise, defined the rationale behind the enterprise, highlighting the rising demand for scaled-down funding devices amongst retail merchants.
Vicioso highlighted the success of CME’s present micro BTC and Ethereum futures, noting a surge in retail engagement, with volumes for micro-Bitcoin futures witnessing a 200% uptick this 12 months in comparison with 2023.
Acknowledging the panorama of retail funding preferences, Vicioso elaborated on the importance of the brand new BTC Friday futures in facilitating “higher accessibility and affordability for retail individuals.”
CME calls the brand new contracts “BFF,” which stands for Bitcoin Friday Futures but additionally playfully references the widespread “finest pal perpetually” acronym.
Vicioso stated the pleasant moniker was intentional, noting, “when you think about a product that we’re launching that ought to have retail attraction, I really like that BFF moniker.” The brand new BFF contracts are pending regulatory assessment, however are anticipated to launch on September thirtieth.
Equally, the Nasdaq seeks regulatory approval to launch choices contracts tied to a Bitcoin index with the US Securities and Trade Fee (SEC).
Nasdaq Goals To Introduce Bitcoin Index Choices
Reuters reported on Tuesday that the trade operator has filed with the US SEC to supply choices on the CME CF Bitcoin Actual-Time Index developed by CF Benchmarks to trace BTC futures and choices out there on the CME Group trade.
The proposed Nasdaq BTC Index Choices would supply buyers with a brand new technique to achieve publicity to and hedge worth actions, complementing the suite of Bitcoin-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and futures merchandise which have hit the market in current months.
The Nasdaq submitting comes as a result of the SEC has not permitted choices tied to any newly launched spot Bitcoin ETFs, together with BlackRock’s iShares BTC Belief ETF.
Exchanges initially utilized for exchange-traded fund choices shortly after the underlying funds debuted in January however have since withdrawn and refiled these functions based mostly on “SEC suggestions.”
In the meantime, Reuters stories that merchants have turned to various BTC-linked merchandise, akin to leveraged ETFs, to get the choices publicity they need. Nevertheless, Matt Hougan, CIO at Asset Supervisor and ETF issuer Bitwise, believes that having choices on a BTC index could possibly be a beneficial addition to the crypto derivatives market.
When writing, the most important cryptocurrency available on the market has fallen again to the $61,600 after hitting a one-month excessive of $65,000 on Sunday, recording a 3% drop within the 24-hour time-frame.
Featured picture from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
