Critical developments have been taking place in the crypto world over the past 72 hours, with the most important of them coming in the form of the SEC not labelling Ethereum as a security. For CBOE, this opens up a lot of new opportunities, including Ether futures contracts.
What Comes Next for CBOE?
Most cryptocurrency enthusiasts will be aware of how CBOE is entering the futures market since not long ago, the financial institution presented its Bitcoin futures offering to the digital currency sector. Although it remains to be seen how popular these products will really be, they allow institutional investors to speculate on the future of Bitcoin.
However, there is so much more to cryptocurrency than just Bitcoin. This unwritten rule is often overlooked, yet it still holds true to date. Other currencies are all making a name for themselves, with Ethereum holding a solid deck of cards in this regard.
In a recent interview, CBOE Global Markets President Chris Concannon offered the following comment:
“We are pleased with the SEC’s decision to provide clarity with respect to current Ether transactions. This announcement clears a key stumbling block for Ether futures, the case for which we’ve been considering since we launched the first Bitcoin futures in December 2017.”
To most people, it seems as if the CBOE is preparing to launch Ether futures soon and while that is certainly a distinct possibility, doing so will be a bit more complicated. After all, there is still very little interest in Bitcoin futures, and it has to make economic sense for CBOE to offer an Ethereum-based counterpart.
Final Thoughts
Letting institutional investors speculate on cryptocurrency prices through futures contracts is an interesting concept. On one hand, it can bring a lot of fresh capital to Bitcoin and Ethereum while on the other hand, it will also lead to even more price volatility.
