FTX.US, the United States-based affiliate of Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is acquiring crypto derivatives platform LedgerX for an undisclosed amount. FTX.US’ owner, West Realm Shire Services, announced on Tuesday that the company had executed a sale-and-purchase agreement to acquire LedgerX’s parent company, Ledger Holdings. The deal is expected to close, pending satisfaction of customary closing conditions, the firm noted. LedgerX is a digital currency futures and options exchange regulated under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Swap Execution Facility and Derivatives Clearing Organization. The platform is available for retail and institutional investors, allowing them to trade cryptocurrency futures with the …
On June 26, $675 million worth of Bitcoin options expired, while industry experts remain divided on its potential effect on price volatility. Some believe the record expiration date will cause Bitcoin (BTC) to see a large price movement. With less than 24 hours until the highly anticipated expiration, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 7% on a single day on June 24. Traders speculate the drop was partially triggered by the uncertainty in the United States’ stock market. A rising number of coronavirus infections and concerns around the high unemployment rate led to an overall increase in caution toward risk-on assets, including …
Update: 10:15a.m. EST: The CFTC has reportedly confirmed that LedgerX’s physically-settled bitcoin futures product has not yet been approved by the Commission. United States Bitcoin (BTC) derivatives provider LedgerX has officially launched physical Bitcoin futures trading, becoming the first to do so on the domestic market. In an announcement on social media July 31, LedgerX said its physical futures offering was live on its Omni trading platform. “It's official: we're live with retail trading on Omni!” officials confirmed. Physical Bitcoin futures differ from those offered by some of the first operators in 2017. Rather than merely gaining exposure to Bitcoin, …
As is always the case in markets and investment, not everyone is looking to go with the grain. There is an emerging bear market looking to bet on a Bitcoin bust in the hopes of shorting the market, but this could be a positive move for the digital currency. There are alternatives to simply buying into Bitcoin, such as banking on derivatives, and alternatives in order to short the market, but soon people will be able to bank on it all going bust. Bitcoin futures While nothing is official yet, there is talk coming out of places like The Chicago …
In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued its eagerly awaited ruling on the Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF proposal: denied. Finance and media pundits and immediately declared that Bitcoin wasn’t ready for the mainstream, and Bitcoin's price quickly dropped. But then something strange happened: shortly after the reject, the price of Bitcoin began soaring, from around $1,100 at the time of the ETF decision to $3,430 today. Along the way, something even stranger happened. A different regulator, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), approved LedgerX’s proposal to launch a regulated Bitcoin futures market. Who are these regulators, and why are …