Hong-Kong-based billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried has stated that FTX may consider buying U.S. financial giant Goldman Sachs and exchanges such as Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) in the future. Speaking with the Financial Times on July 14, Bankman-Fried stated that if FTX can become the top crypto exchange and supplant rivals such as Coinbase and Binance, the idea of purchasing giants such as Goldman Sachs and CME group is not off the table: “If we are the biggest exchange, [buying Goldman Sachs and CME] is not out of the question at all.” The 29-year-old has an estimated net worth of $8.7 billion …

Institutional exposure to cryptocurrencies via derivatives continued to grow in the second quarter, as CME Group’s newly launched Bitcoin (BTC) micro contract received considerable uptick in its first two months of trading. Since launching on May 3, CME’s Micro Bitcoin futures contract has already surpassed 1 million contracts traded, the Chicago-based derivatives market announced earlier this week. CME executive Tim McCourt said the new product has been popular among institutions and day traders seeking to hedge their spot Bitcoin price risk. Denominated at 0.1 BTC, the micro contract is one-tenth the size of one Bitcoin. By comparison, CME’s main Bitcoin …

Many traders entering cryptocurrency markets from traditional finance may look to derivatives as vehicles for price speculation and hedging. There are plenty of choices when it comes to exchanges and instruments; however, traders should consider a few key differences between crypto futures and traditional futures before dipping a toe into this rapidly growing market. Related: 3 things every crypto trader should know about derivatives exchanges Different instruments Traders entering cryptocurrency from the traditional markets will be accustomed to futures contracts with a fixed expiration date. Although fixed expiration contracts can be found in cryptocurrency markets, a significant proportion of crypto …

Ether (ETH) faces its largest options expiry ever on June 25 as nearly $1.5 billion out of $3.3 billion notional open interest (OI) in ETH options will expire. June’s expiry has over 638,000 ETH options contracts in its purview, accounting for 45% of the total open interest in these options. Although it’s the largest options expiry in the history of the derivative product, the open interest in ETH options OI hit its all-time high of nearly $5.5 billion on May 20 soon after ETH had hit its all-time high of $4,362 on May 12. The huge expiry amid the ongoing …

A run-up toward $40,000 in the Bitcoin (BTC) market risked exhaustion as Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s futures opened on Monday with a gap of $1,575, the first since May 17. In retrospect, the downside risks heightened due to Bitcoin’s recent bearish pullbacks near the $40,000 level. Atop that, the said CME gap formed between Friday’s close of $37,325 and Monday’s open of $38,900, raising possibilities that the next correction would prompt Bitcoin bids to fall to at least $37,325. That is due to a general psychological notion among traders that BTC/USD reverses its trends to fill Bitcoin futures gaps more than …

On June 7, the United States government task force seized more than $2 million in Bitcoin (BTC) to pay a ransom following an attack on the Colonial Pipeline system. A warrant filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California shows that authorities recovered 63.7 BTC. As news of the recovery spread through mainstream media, some outlets suggested that the U.S. government somehow hacked the Bitcoin address in order to extract the funds. For example, University of Michigan professor and New York Times contributor Justin Wolfers tweeted: News that the government has figured out how to snatch …

A total of 53,400 Bitcoin (BTC) options are set to expiry on Friday. At first sight, bulls appear to lead as the $2.1-billion open interest call (buy) to put (sell) options ratio stands at 1.32, favoring the neutral-to-bullish derivatives. However, after Bitcoin dropped 33% in May, the right to acquire BTC at $46,000 and above is essentially worthless since there is less than 38 hours left before expiry. On May 20, Cointelegraph reported that “May 28 will be no different with $1.95 billion open interest. While it seems premature to call it, bears will likely continue to pressure markets, considering …

Amid Bitcoin touching five-month lows near $30,000, JPMorgan Chase analysts suggested that large institutional investors are now dumping Bitcoin (BTC) in favor of gold. In its Tuesday note to clients, JPMorgan suggested that institutional investors are going back to gold, reversing a major bullish cryptocurrency market action that drove Bitcoin's price above $64,000 in mid-April. Citing open interest data in Bitcoin futures contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the American megabank said that BTC futures now saw the first biggest decline since the bull market that started in late 2020: “The bitcoin flow picture continues to deteriorate and is pointing …

Historically, activity surrounding the Bitcoin (BTC) monthly futures and options expiry has been blamed for weakening bullish momentum. A few studies from 2019 found a 2.3% average drop in BTC price 40 hours before the CME futures settlement date. However, as Cointelegraph reported in June 2020, the effect faded away. While 2020 seems to have rejected the potential negative impact of CME expiries, so far, the current year appears to validate the theory. Bitcoin’s price has been suppressed ahead of futures and options expiry in the first three months of 2021. Some investors and traders have pointed out that Bitcoin’s …

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, or CME, has officially launched its newest Bitcoin (BTC) derivatives product, setting the stage for wider mainstream adoption of digital assets. TIm McCourt, CME Group’s global head of equity index and alternative investment products, said the new product will provide “an efficient, cost-effective way for a broad array of market participants — from institutions to sophisticated, active traders — to fine-tune their bitcoin exposure and enhance their trading strategies.” The Micro Bitcoin futures contract is worth 0.1 BTC, which provides traders with an additional tool to hedge their digital currency price risk. J. B. Mackenzie, managing …

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, or CME, has unveiled plans to launch a new Bitcoin (BTC) derivatives product that will enable traders to speculate on fractional units of the flagship digital currency. CME Group’s Micro Bitcoin futures contract, which is set to launch May 3 pending regulatory approval, will be worth 0.1 BTC. The smaller contract size provides market participants with an additional tool to hedge their Bitcoin price risk, CME said Tuesday. CME’s current Bitcoin contract unit is 5 BTC. Tim McCourt, CME Group’s global head of equity index and alternative investment products, explained: “The introduction of Micro Bitcoin futures …

Bitcoin’s price rose significantly in January. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, or CME, also hit record Bitcoin (BTC) futures trading numbers in the same month. “In January, BTC average daily volume (ADV) reached a monthly record of 17,549 contracts (87.7K equivalent bitcoin),” a CME representative told Cointelegraph. Each CME Bitcoin futures contract is worth the value of 5 BTC paid out in dollars. “In December 2020, BTC average daily volume (ADV) reached 11,179 contracts (55.9K equivalent bitcoin),” the representative added. “This represents a +57% increase.” In January, Bitcoin rose from $30,000 up to almost $42,000, according to TradingView data. The month …