Wall Street Banks do not support bitcoin futures contracts
Wall Street banks do not support the idea of bitcoin futures contracts. The first bitcoin futures contracts are set to be launched in a few days, but they were met with criticism by Wall Street banks. Wall Street believes that the financial system is not ready for the rising price of bitcoin.
Bitcoin managed to reach a new high, surpassing the $15,000 value and the $250 market cap. The growth is impressive considering that only a day ago the cryptocurrency increased from $12,000 to $13,000. The new growth is believed to be linked to the upcoming futures launch.
The first bitcoins futures launch is set to take place on Sunday, December 10. This is when CBOE Global Markets will launch their bitcoin futures. The second company to do the same is GME Group, which has scheduled its launch for December 18th. CBEO and GME Group announced their decision after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) granted approval for the bitcoin futures contracts.
The Tokyo Financial Exchange also made an announcement supporting bitcoin trading. The exchange stated that it aims to support bitcoin as a financial product and release a bitcoin derivatives futures product.
Some others are expected to follow CBEO and GME Group. Among them is said to be Nasdaq, which is alleged to be launching its bitcoin futures contracts in the first half of 2018. However, no official date has been communicated for the moment.
Industry group letter to the CFTC
However, not everyone supports CBEO and GME on this path. In fact, the Futures Industry Association, which is an industry lobby group including financial giants such as JP Morgan, sent a letter to the CFTC expressing concern over these bitcoin futures contracts. According to the letter, bitcoin futures contracts "did not allow for proper public transparency and input."
The group also raised concerns about the prices associated to bitcoin futures contracts. The concerns stem from the high volatility of the cryptocurrency, which experienced high increases, and also some quick falls, in the past few months.
