CFTC gives green light to Bitcoin futures

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has granted regulatory approval to several Bitcoin futures planned by US offerers this Friday, December 1. With the blessing of the derivatives authority, the introduction of Bitcoin future transactions by the providers CME Group, CBOE and Cantor Fitzgerald now stands in the way. Their first market entry is scheduled for December 18th.
The project seems to be in the towel, throwing heavy coal at the bitcoin furnace fire that keeps flaring up these days. With the approval of the US derivatives authority CFTC, the introduction of the bitcoin futures planned for months by CME Group, CBOE and, most recently, Cantor Fitzgerald has taken over the most important regulatory hurdle.

After CME CEO Terry Duffy announced last month that they plan to launch in mid-December, the agency's approval confirms that timeline. As the offerers announced, US customers of CME and CBOE will now be able to take advantage of future-oriented business from December 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald, on the other hand, plans to launch its binary options for the first half of next year.

Specific details on the CME Group and CBOE offerings available this month can be found on the providers' websites. According to Concrete by Cantor Fitzgerald is still waiting at this time.

Attention: No comprehensive regulation

As stated in the accompanying press release of the agency, they had previously worked in close collaboration to develop common standards with the launching vendors in order to explore the new territory around crypto-derivatives.

However, a comprehensive regulation of the Bitcoin derivatives market on the US stock exchanges does not represent the approval of the CFTC. This was underlined by the authority's commissioner, J. Christopher Giancarlo. In contrast, he emphasizes that his authority has limited authority and can not provide a holistic oversight of the complex crypto market.


"Market participants should be aware that the relatively recent cash markets and transactions behind the Bitcoin remain largely unregulated markets, over which the CFTC has little legal authority. There are "concerns about the price volatility and trading practices of participants in these markets",
so Giancarlo.

Despite warnings, Terry Duffy, CEO and Managing Director of the Chicago futures and options exchange CME Group, said in an interview with Coindesk that he had confidence in establishing the necessary control mechanisms.

"We are pleased to launch Bitcoin futures after working closely with the CFTC and other market participants to create a regulated offering [...] offering transparency, pricing and risk transfer opportunities."
Stock market establishment enroute?
With the approval of the CFTC, Bitcoin is taking an important step towards established financial markets. The fact that this trend could continue in the near future is confirmed, among other things, by the announcement of the New York Stock Exchange Nasdaq. As BTC-ECHO reports, the largest electronic stock exchange provider this week also announced plans to launch crypto derivatives.

In addition, a chain reaction is likely to set in motion at the end of the year, with the west wind from Chicago and New York also taking the business model to European latitudes. For example, the managing director of British hedge fund Man Group Luke Ellis had announced that he would also take the plunge into new business for the crypto derivatives.