CME Group, the second global exchange to list bitcoin (BTC) futures, is about to record the biggest trading month for BTC futures trading, industry news outlet The Block reports May 21. The publication has reportedly cited data from an external email from CME. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange purportedly revealed that the average daily bitcoin futures trading volume hit a new high of 14,000 contracts solely in May 2019. To date, May 13 has reportedly become the biggest trading day for CME’s bitcoin futures, with the platform having registered 33,700 contracts worth $1.35 billion in bitcoin at the time. The exchange …

CME Group reported record volume for its bitcoin (BTC) futures on May 13 as the cryptocurrency’s surprise bull market continued. CME, which together with the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) became the first provider of bitcoin futures to the market in December 2017, saw an all-time record of 33,700 contracts on Monday. That figure represented an equivalent 168,000 BTC ($1.35 billion) — an almost 50% rise versus the previous high of 22,500 contracts and 112,700 BTC (currently $909.2 million) on April 4. At the time, CME had warned over a 17% net income drop for Q1 2019 despite the brisk …

The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is reportedly taking steps to ensure approval from the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for its bitcoin futures contracts platform — Bakkt. ICE, the operator of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), recently acquired a cryptocurrency custodial service and are mulling plans to register Bakkt as a licensed trust in the state of New York. If successful, these latest moves would see Bakkt become a registered bitcoin (BTC) custody platform. Recent reports also indicate that the company is in partnership with Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon for the storage of cryptocurrency security keys. …

United States-based cryptocurrency exchange ErisX recently announced the public launch of its spot market trading, a move that takes the company a step closer to its goal of being a one-stop shop for the trading of spot and futures contracts in a regulated environment. Per the information on its product page, ErisX will support dollar trading pair with bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether and litecoin — in addition to bitcoin trading pairs with the other three cryptocurrencies. What’s ErisX’s plan in the crypto space? Since 2017, ErisX has been building a trusted market infrastructure to support the institutional adoption of cryptocurrency. …

United States regulator the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is open to the idea of ether (ETH) futures trading, cryptocurrency industry news outlet CoinDesk reported on May 6. The publication quoted an unnamed official, who appeared to say that ETH-based futures would be a reasonable product for consideration and approval should it meet the CFTC’s various requirements. The comments come around 18 months after the first cryptocurrency futures contracts got the green light from the U.S. in December 2017. Launched by CBOE and CME Group, both futures contracts focused exclusively on bitcoin (BTC). “I think we can get comfortable with …

United States derivative market CME Group has reported a 17% fall in net income for the first quarter, according to a news release on May 1. Despite revenues rising over the three-month period, earnings stood at $497 million, compared with $599 million this time a year ago. CME Group chairman and chief executive Terry Duffy said the results amounted to the third-highest quarterly volume in its history “despite low levels of volatility in several product areas.” The group’s revenue had hit record highs in Q1 2018, with volatility in the markets helping to drive trading in its futures markets. In …

More than 20 of the crypto market’s biggest traders gathered in January for talks on making digital assets and tokens part of the global financial architecture, according to a Bloomberg report published on April 25. The meeting was reportedly arranged by Standard Chartered executive Hoe Lon Leng — and representatives from Galaxy Digital, Coinbase and Binance were among those said to have attended the talks at a luxury resort in Singapore. Bloomberg reported that the meeting has resulted in plans for a clearinghouse for crypto derivatives that would reduce trading costs while increasing trading volumes. Reportedly known as the Liquidity …

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)-lead institutional cryptocurrency trading platform Bakkt is considering acquiring a New York BitLicense to launch its bitcoin futures, Bloomberg reports on April 18. Bakkt has seen resistance from the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to approve its bitcoin futures because of its intentions to custody user’s assets. Bloomberg quotes anonymous sources familiar with the situation, stating that to ease the concerns of the regulator, the company is considering acquiring a license from New York financial regulators. The CFTC recognizes state bank and trust licenses and could potentially allow the listing of futures if Bakkt obtained a …

The overall institutional investment in Bitcoin (BTC) futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) decreased this past week, according to data published by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on April 9. The data shows that as of April 9, institutional investors and asset managers had 244 open long positions, a decrease of 71 from April 2, and 80 open short positions, nine less than one week before. Also, the data show only three open spreading positions for institutional investors, 32 less than the previous week. As of the April 9 data, the number of short positions among …

Year-to-date, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) is up 40% against the United States dollar, and other major cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Litecoin have also demonstrated strong gains in the past four months. Performance of crypto assets in the past month. Source: coin360.io Litecoin, for instance, recorded a staggering 208% increase in value since January — outperforming most crypto assets apart from a handful, including Binance Coin and Enjin Coin. From April 1 to April 3, based on CoinMarketCap data, the price of Bitcoin surged from $4,100 to $5,041, by around 22% against the U.S. dollar. After experiencing a slight …

Leading United States derivative market CME Group pointed out that its Bitcoin (BTC) futures reported a record trading volume on April 4, according to their tweet. Per the tweet, the volume of its Bitcoin futures hit an all-time-high of over 22,500 contracts on April 4, which is equivalent to about 112,700 BTC. The previous record has been hit on February 19 and was reportedly over 18,300 contracts, equivalent to 64,300 BTC. CME Bitcoin Futures Cumulative Volume on April 4, 2019. Courtesy of CME Group The CME Bitcoin Futures, according to a dedicated frequently asked questions page, were launched on December …

Kelly Loeffler, the CEO of institutional trading platform Bakkt, announced that former cybersecurity expert at IBM, Cisco and Endgame Tom Noonan will become the chairman of its board of directors. The development was reported in a Medium post published on March 29. Per the announcement, the founder, chairman and CEO of the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and chairman of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Jeff Sprecher is also joining the board of directors of the company. Alongside him, the post further welcomes Softbank managing partner Akshay Naheta and managing partner at Goldfinch Partners Sean Collins to the board. Loeffler notes …