Physically-settled Ether (ETH) futures contracts are now available. Chicago-based exchange ErisX launched the contracts on Monday. This marks the first Ether futures contracts in the US.
Individual and institutional investors will be able to trade the contracts, fully regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), starting today. Based on ETH-USD and trading alongside the firm’s spot market, the ErisX ETH futures will have monthly and quarterly expirations.
ErisX, which is backed by leading crypto investors Fidelity, Nasdaq and TD Ameritrade, among others, confirms that Ethereum has spawned a massive network that has reached multiple verticals and generated a thriving market, numerous use cases and a demand for derivatives.
“Since its launch in 2015, the Ethereum community has grown to include speculators, product developers, and organizations and enterprises that include governmental, nonprofit and for-profit entities. Use cases for Ethereum, and its native crypto asset Ether, currently run the gamut from potential financial and commercial applications, prediction markets, voting and identity systems, digitized physical assets, unique non-fungible digital assets, trading and exchange applications, payments and remittances, to data management platforms and beyond.”
The firm also points to a recent notice by the CFTC urging participants in the crypto space to seek out regulated entities as a sign of greater participation between regulators and companies offering cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based services.
“Amid the current market volatility, beware of social media posts that tout digital assets or forex. If someone offers to trade for you, make sure they are CFTC-registered before sending bitcoin or credit card info. If not, the offer could be a fraud.”
As the cryptocurrency industry matures and continues to attract big money, regulated platforms are expanding to mimic traditional markets. ErisX says that its matching engine preserves equal access to participants to prevent market manipulation, while the platform provides “markets price discovery, liquidity and collateral efficiencies” in a fully regulated environment.
ErisX announced last week that it received a BitLicense from the New York State Department of Financial Services, which allows the firm to service New York customers who want to buy and sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on the ErisX platform.
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