In a varied career, Dan Schatt has been a Peace Corps volunteer in Romania, a Citibank banker in Senegal, a Celent analyst and a PayPal executive. He co-founded Cred, a decentralized lending and borrowing platform, with other PayPal technology veterans in 2018. Cred attracted some attention last year when it enabled a California politician to purchase cannabis with Bitcoin Cash (BCH). The politician was the first elected official to use cryptocurrency to purchase cannabis in the United States, according to Cointelegraph, in a demonstration meant to show how blockchain and stablecoin technology could enable more effective tax collection. Elsewhere, working …

Bitcoin (BTC) crossed the $10,000 mark for swathes of institutional investors this week as markets looked increasingly likely to surge higher still. Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360 CME reaches $10K per Bitcoin Data from CME Group’s Bitcoin futures shows the implied price of Bitcoin reaching the symbolic five figures on Feb. 6. Since then, a slight correction has sent BTC/USD a shade lower — it currently trades at $9,800, while CME’s futures are hovering around $9,900. CME Bitcoin futures 2-week chart. Source: TradingView Considerable enthusiasm has accompanied sustained price momentum for Bitcoin throughout the past week’s trading. After challenging …

Bitcoin (BTC) futures are fast becoming the darling of institutional investors as open interest spikes 60% since the start of 2020. Data from monitoring resource Skew Markets shows that open interest across major futures offerings from exchanges now stands at more than $4 billion. BitMEX, OKEx futures open interest passes $1B Over half of that stems from two companies — derivatives giant BitMEX and crypto exchange OKEx — both of which now have open interest in excess of $1 billion. Bitcoin futures open interest (exchanges only). Source: Skew Markets On Monday, fellow platform Deribit confirmed month-on-month Bitcoin futures options turnover …

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, or CME, has hosted over $100 billion in volume for its Bitcoin futures trading product. “CME Bitcoin futures have surpassed $100 billion in total notional value traded since their launch in December 2017,” CME Group Managing Director and Global Head of Equity Index Alternative Investment Products, Tim McCourt, told Cointelegraph. Institutions join crypto During the crypto boom of 2017, mainstream financial entities began moving into the industry. In December 2017, at the peak of Bitcoin’s all-time price high, CME launched its cash-settled Bitcoin futures trading product. CME’s market entrance came just one week after the Chicago …

Bitcoin (BTC) options from CME Group more than doubled their traded volume in the first week after going live, data shows. According to figures supplied by the company, Bitcoin options volumes skyrocketed in the seven days since they went live on Jan. 13. BTC futures options surge higher As of Jan. 17, volume was 122 contracts, worth 610 BTC ($5.27 million). By comparison, on day one, volume was 55 contracts, or 275 BTC (currently worth $2.37 million). Open interest on options stood at 219 contracts on Friday, equivalent to 1,095 BTC ($9.45 million). Bitcoin options open interest. Source: Skew Markets/ …

Bitcoin (BTC) derivatives trading looks set to reach record levels this month as volume spikes and open interest hovers near all-time highs. Data from CME Group shows that as of Jan. 16, open interest for its futures products alone totaled 5,328 contracts — or 26,640 BTC ($237 million). Open interest on track for record The figure is higher than any monthly close CME has seen since it debuted in December 2017, with July 2019 currently in the lead with 5,252 contracts. Open interest did surpass current levels earlier in January, reaching around 5,400 according to the latest data from United …

Bitcoin (BTC) futures options from CME Group saw volumes in excess of $2.3 million on the product’s first day of public trading, the company has confirmed. Data from CME’s official website confirmed the successful rollout on Jan. 13, which began as scheduled and ultimately saw 55 contracts change hands. Investors lap up BTC options products Each contract corresponds to 5 BTC, meaning that at current prices, the 55 contracts were worth $2.34 million. Bitcoin markets rallied on release day, rising by more than 5% to hit highs of $8,550. Those levels had previously remained absent since mid-November. As Cointelegraph reported, …

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has received necessary regulatory approval and has launched its new Bitcoin (BTC) futures options as of today, Jan. 13. According to the official website of CME, the new type of Bitcoin derivatives contract — Bitcoin futures options — is now live, which comes in line with the company’s plans announced in November 2019. CME’s Bitcoin futures options was subject to “regulatory approval” earlier in the day Specifically, the launch of CME’s Bitcoin futures options follows regulatory approval that the exchange received earlier today, as reported by Cointegraph. As of press time, the approval notice has …

The team behind the Digitex Futures exchange reports that the launch of its trading platform’s beta version has been successful. Now, the company is working on further developments, taking into account user feedback in order to prepare for the launch of the mainnet. Digitex reports it is going to incentivize the testers of its public beta version by launching the Digitex Daily Trading Battle on Friday Jan. 17. Users will not only be able to compete for prizes but can also familiarize themselves with the platform and try out all kinds of daring trading strategies without worrying about losing actual …

Bitcoin (BTC) futures traders generated at least $20 billion in daily volume last week as two new options products prepared to hit the market. According to data released by futures provider CME Group on Jan. 9, its futures contracts alone saw open interest almost 70% higher than at the end of 2019. “Serious” volume precedes options debut Open interest was the among the highest ever last week, only noticeably lagging behind the peak seen at the end of June. At the time, BTC/USD was circling its local highs of $13,800, while the past seven days likewise saw a price uptick …

The United States’ largest bank believes interest will be high in CME Group’s new Bitcoin (BTC) options when they launch on Jan. 13. In a note from Jan. 10 quoted by Bloomberg on Friday, a group of analysts at JPMorgan Chase led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou noted interest in CME’s existing Bitcoin futures had spiked in the run-up to the release. “High anticipation” of Bitcoin options On the shift in investor behavior, JPMorgan summarized: “This unusually strong activity over the past few days likely reflects the high anticipation among market participants of the option contract.” The events mark a contrast to …

Major United States brokerage TD Ameritrade doesn’t deny the potential inclusion of cryptocurrencies like XRP to its platform. One of the early adopters of the original Bitcoin (BTC) futures trading platform, TD Ameritrade apparently remains positive about more potential initiatives in crypto. TD Ameritrade hints at more crypto services based on client feedback In a Dec. 29 tweet, TD Ameritrade hinted that it is continuing to explore crypto markets, replying to a question as to whether the company is planning to support cryptocurrency such as XRP. “Thank you for your interest! Currently, we offer Bitcoin Futures on the CME. We …