The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) hasn’t come to bury Ether, it’s come to regulate it. That was the message drawn from Heath Tarbert’s remarks from the stage at Yahoo Finance’s All Markets Summit in New York City on Oct. 10, which could have important consequences for the crypto and blockchain industry. He went on: “It is my view as Chairman of the CFTC that Ether is a commodity, and therefore it will be regulated under the CEA. And my guess is that you will see in the near future Ether-related futures contracts and other derivatives potentially traded.” …

Bitcoin (BTC) futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s (CME) briefly broke $10,000 on Friday, June 21, according to data from trading analytics platform TradingView. CME bitcoin futures 24-hour chart. Source: TradingView BTC futures reached a new high for 2019 of around $10,050, breaking $10,000 for the first time since early March 2018, when bitcoin was trading above $11,000 per coin. The new 2019 record has grown in line with the new highs of CME bitcoin futures total open interest (OI) that has reportedly reached around $273 million after CME reported new all-time high of 5,311 contracts totalling $256 million earlier …

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. …

Top Stories This Week U.S. District Attorney Charges OneCoin Founders With “Billions” in Alleged Fraud The founders of international cryptocurrency pyramid scheme OneCoin have been charged by a United States district attorney. Both Konstantin Ignatov and his sister Ruja Ignatova were reportedly arrested on March 6 in Los Angeles after being accused of “wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering offenses” after luring investors into putting billions of dollars into the fraudulent OneCoin cryptocurrency. The crypto organization — established in 2014 and based in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria — works as a marketing network in which members receive commissions …

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) will not add a new Bitcoin (BTC) futures market in March, the firm said in a statement on March 14. Per the statement, CBOE is re-evaluating how it approaches trading digital assets. CBOE said: “CFE is not adding a Cboe Bitcoin (USD) (“XBT”) futures contract for trading in March 2019. CFE is assessing its approach with respect to how it plans to continue to offer digital asset derivatives for trading. While it considers its next steps, CFE does not currently intend to list additional XBT futures contracts for trading.” The currently listed futures, XBTM19, …

United States regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says it will shortly commence the countdown period to approval or disapproval of the VanEck/SolidX Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The news was announced in an unpublished notice that was filed on Feb. 19. The move is the latest in a series of back-and-forth exchanges between the SEC and ETF sponsors. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) — the exchange applying with the SEC to list the Bitcoin ETF — had withdrawn its application for a rule change on the ETF in January, ostensibly due in part to the U.S. government shutdown. …

Crypto exchange ErisX has appointed three veterans from Barclays, Youtube and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) to fill executive roles at the company. The development was announced in a press release published Feb. 7. As reported, ErisX is a reboot of traditional futures market Eris Exchange, and is expected to begin support for spot trading in major cryptos. The exchange will support spot trading in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC), as well as futures contracts starting in the second half of 2019, pending United States regulators’ approval. The new appointments will see Robert Thrash serving as chief …

The Chicago Board Options Exchange’s (CBOE), along with investment firm VanEck and financial services company SolidX, has re-applied with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a rule change to list a Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF). VanEck digital asset strategy director Gabor Gurbacs announced the public filing on Jan. 31. ETFs are securities that track a basket of assets proportionately represented in the fund’s shares. They are seen by some as a potential step forward for the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies as a regulated and passive investment instrument. CBOE had initially withdrawn its request for a rule …

Top Stories This Week CBOE Withdraws BTC ETF Rule Exchange Request From SEC Amid Gov’t Shutdown The Chicago Board Options Exchange’s (CBOE) BZX Equity Exchange has withdrawn its request for a rule change from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in order to list its Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF). A CBOE spokesperson told Cointelegraph that U.S. government shutdown was the reason for the withdrawal, as the end of the review period is approaching with no government agencies able to operate fully. The CBOE will instead re-submit the filing for an ETF — which was backed by investment …

The Chicago Board Options Exchange’s (CBOE) BZX Equity Exchange has apparently withdrawn its request for a rule change by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to an official notice published on Jan. 23, BZX withdrew a proposed rule change that would allow it to list a Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF). ETFs are securities that track a basket of assets proportionately represented in the fund’s shares. They are seen by some as a potential step forward for the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies as a regulated and passive investment instrument. The ETF under consideration was backed by investment …

Ed Tilly, CEO, president and chairman at the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), declared that there is a need for Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded notes (ETNs) in order for Wall Street institutional investors to join the crypto space. Financial newspaper Business Insider reported on Tilly’s comments on Jan.18. According to the aforementioned article, Tilly declared that “the growth of Bitcoin in listed markets is still hamstrung by the lack of a trading product geared toward mom-and-pop investors.” According to him, Bitcoin futures did not see substantial growth because of the lack of a note or tracker tied to BTC that retail …

A Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article published today, Dec. 28, suggests that Bitcoin (BTC)’s correlation with traditional assets markets has been high in recent days. Citing data from research firm Excalibur Pro Inc., the WSJ states that the top cryptocurrency has traded at a 0.84 correlation to gold over the past five days, where -1 indicates complete inversion and +1 perfect correlation. Moreover, Bitcoin has traded at a 0.77 correlation to the Chicago Board of Options Exchange’s Volatility index (VIX), a benchmark index for the United States equity market volatility. While the WSJ frames the strong correlation between traditional markets …