Bitcoin price (BTC/USD): Bitcoin ETFs likely to follow BTC futures, CBOE president says
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) believes that Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are likely to come to the markets not long after futures contracts on the cryptocurrency have been launched.
In August, the Chicago-based exchange operator announced its plans to start offering cash-settled Bitcoin futures in the fourth quarter of this year, or in early 2018. The company is now waiting for approval from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
During an earnings conference call on Tuesday, CBOE’s president Chris Concannon talked about the potential impact derivatives products on the Bitcoin industry.
“With regulated futures of a certain asset class like a bitcoin, you do have an opportunity to introduce ETFs and over time we do envision ETFs coming to market,” Concannon said, as quoted by Bloomberg.
Attempts to launch a Bitcoin ETF have so far failed to win approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, but the situation may change soon change, as the likelihood of a stable derivatives market forming increases.
Last week CBOE’s Chicago-based rival CME Group announced that it was planning to launch cash-settled Bitcoin futures in the fourth quarter of this year. The news was largely responsible for Bitcoin’s most recent rally.
“The cryptocurrency space is a space that I think we believe in and certainly our competitor across town believes in as well,” CBOE’s Chris Concannon said yesterday.
Also yesterday, CME’s chairman emeritus Leo Melamed told Reuters that Bitcoin was likely to become its own tradable asset class, similar to gold or stocks. In an interview with the newswire he described CME’s move as “a very important step for Bitcoin’s history”.
“We will regulate, make bitcoin not wild, nor wilder. We’ll tame it into a regular type instrument of trade with rules,” Melamed said, adding that he expected major investors to take part in Bitcoin futures.
In today’s trading, the Bitcoin price stood at $7,494.42, as of 12:40 GMT. The cryptocurrency has gained 4.3% over the past 24 hours.
For further information on how to buy and trade Bitcoin, see our comprehensive Bitcoin guide.
