CME Asks CFTC to Double Bitcoin Futures Capacity as Interest Soars

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group is petitioning United States regulators to allow its clients to double their open Bitcoin futures positions.

Double open positions limit, says CME

According to Nasdaq on Sept. 12, CME has already put its plans before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). 

If successful, each investor would gain a monthly limit of 2,000 contracts per spot month instead of the current 1,000. 

The move comes on the back of constant growth in demand for Bitcoin futures, with CME’s volumes setting new records on a regular basis. 

As Nasdaq notes, the CFTC officially states that lower-risk trading instruments are not subject to limits. Therefore, an agreement to lessen the strict controls for CME could be construed as the regulator having more faith in Bitcoin (BTC) options than before. 

“This is one more way we’re providing customers, institutional traders and end-users with additional flexibility to trade and hedge bitcoin price risk,” a spokesperson told the publication. 

March of the Bitcoin futures contracts

CME was one of the first Bitcoin futures operators, launching its product in December 2017. Since then, the market has expanded, with the second half of this year set to see a significant increase in overall interest. 

Later in September, Bakkt, the regulated trading ecosystem for institutional investors, will launch physical Bitcoin futures, which pay out returns in BTC instead of fiat currency. 

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is currently testing two potential futures trading platforms.