CME Says ‘No Change’ To BTC Futures Plans

For CME Group’s very own Bitcoin Futures Market, it has always been about business. The company says so despite the existence of a retrenchment courtesy of rival derivatives operator called Cboe Global Markets.

No Change On BTC Futures Contract

According to a CME spokesperson, the exchange does not plan to announce any change regarding its BTC futures contract. He also declined to give further details about Cboe’s pullback.

Interestingly, the affirmation from the spokesperson arrived in light of the announcement that the aforementioned CME rival does not intend to add a Bitcoin futures contract. Basically, it was expected to do so in its trading come March.

In other words, this market will significantly come to a stop following the last currently traded futures expire in June this year. This will be expected to occur at Cboe Futures Exchange (CFE), a narrative that could at least happen until new figures are listed.

Assessing Methods

In a notice to its investors, the company said that CFE is going to assess its own approach in regards to how its entire plans to provide digital asset derivatives for trading. And while it still continues to consider the next steps, it does not necessarily plan to list all additional XBT futures contracts, which are also meant for trading.

A spokesperson for Cboe, on the other hand, did not talk about the product update. Apparently, though, the difference in terms of outcomes does not surprise at all, especially since CME’s own volumes have been able to double more than Cboe’s.

Take for example the figures last March 14. The daily trading of its Bitcoin futures appeared to have reached at least 4,666 contracts. Cboe’s, however, only reached 2,089 contracts.

The Product-Market Fit

Market participants reportedly offered some explanations for the outperformance courtesy of CME when it comes to Bitcoin futures. A main plausible reason is a significant difference in how the two companies approach the product and market it. For instance, CME created its product in a way that it becomes available to a much larger group of traders from the get-go.

If one has to connect to both Cboe and CME, it can really be expensive. If a user is already successful in trading other products on a certain exchange, it is expected from him to have no new cost. Otherwise, there is a necessity to pay solely for the connectivity, market data, software license, and cross-connects, among many others.