In a press release on Monday, CME Group, one of the leading crypto derivatives platform, announced the launch of micro-Bitcoin futures to its crypto derivatives platform. Pending regulatory review and acceptance, the new micro-BTC futures will be launched on CME later this year in May.
“Micro Bitcoin” futures to be Tenth the Size of on Bitcoin
The micro-Bitcoin futures are aimed at giving investors smaller portions to place their bets on Bitcoin. Each micro future will be a tenth the size of one Bitcoin, the statement states, “giving users one more tool to hedge their spot Bitcoin price risk”.
Additionally, the micro-BTC futures will offer similar features to CME’s current standard Bitcoin futures in a cost effective and efficient way.
Tim McCourt, CME Group’s Global Head of Equity Index and Alternative Investment Products, stated the new product launched following constant
“demand for smaller-sized contracts from a broad array of clients.” The product targets both institutional and accredited investors and will provide a broader choice of instruments to hedge BTC price exposure using “regulated Bitcoin futures,” he added.
CME Group is currently the seventh-largest crypto derivatives exchange registering $1.88 billion in BTC futures daily volume, according to Skew Analytics. Having recently launched its Ether futures on Feb 8, CME is targeting to be the top regulated derivatives exchange in the crypto market.
Since January, a total of 13,800 CME Bitcoin futures contracts (or ~69,000 BTC) have traded on average each day with ETH contracts lagging behind at 767 contracts (or ~38,000 ETH) every day.
The new micro-BTC futures will trade using the same rules as standard Bitcoin futures on CME. This means the futures will also be cash-settled.
CME Group Bitcoin futures open interest currently stand at $2.90 billion. The derivatives exchange set its all-time high volumes earlier in February – registering $5 billion in daily volumes a day before BTC officially broke the trillion-dollar market cap barrier.
