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ARTICLE · 04 APRIL 2019

Bitcoin Futures Markets: A Year Later

The Brattle Group, Inc.
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In December 2017, the CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) introduced bitcoin futures contracts.

United StatesFinance and Banking
Ioannis Gkatzimas
Ioannis Gkatzimas
Marek Zapletal
Marek Zapletal

In December 2017, the CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) introduced bitcoin futures contracts. The opportunity to trade bitcoin futures on two established exchanges was viewed as increasing bitcoin's credibility and has facilitated additional venues for trading in the cryptocurrency, sometimes referred to more generally as virtual currencies or digital assets. Futures trading allowed investors to take leveraged economic positions in bitcoin which previously traded only on a decentralized and unregulated spot market. This article reviews some of the key features of the bitcoin futures contracts and provides an overview of trading activity during the first year of their existence.

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