Earlier today, on December 6, the bitcoin price achieved a new all-time high at $12,278, within 24 hours since achieving its previous all-time high at $12,000.
Yesterday, on December 5, CCN reported that the price of bitcoin surpassed the $12,000 mark ahead of the launch of CBOE’s bitcoin futures launch. The market has been highly optimistic in regards to CBOE and US-based bitcoin exchange Gemini’s listing of bitcoin futures, given that CBOE is the largest options exchange in the world and its listing of bitcoin futures will lead to a spike in liquidity of the cryptocurrency.
Why is Market So Optimistic About Bitcoin Futures?
Yesterday, on December 5, CCN reported that the price of bitcoin surpassed the $12,000 mark ahead of the launch of CBOE’s bitcoin futures exchange. The market has been highly optimistic in regards to CBOE and US-based bitcoin exchange Gemini’s listing of bitcoin futures, given that CBOE is the largest options exchange in the world and its listing of bitcoin futures will lead to a spike in liquidity of the cryptocurrency.
As of current, high profile investors, large-scale hedge funds, and institutional investors are restricted to three bitcoin investment instruments: Sweden’s Nordiq Nasdaq-listed bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETN) XBT Provider, Grayscale Investment’s Bitcoin Investment Fund (GBTC), and LedgerX’s US Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-regulated bitcoin options exchange.
The launch of two bitcoin futures exchanges by CBOE and CME by mid-December, two of the largest options exchange in the global finance market, will immediately provide institutional and retail investors with sufficient liquidity and robust infrastructure to invest in bitcoin.
In an official corporate announcement, CBOE Global Markets chairman and CEO Ed Tilly revealed that to promote the usage of and investment in bitcoin, CBOE’s bitcoin futures exchange will initially offer trading for free.
“Given the unprecedented interest in bitcoin, it’s vital we provide clients the trading tools to help them express their views and hedge their exposure. We are committed to encouraging fairness and liquidity in the bitcoin market. To promote this, we will initially offer XBT futures trading for free,” said Tilly.
Impact of Bitcoin Futures on Short and Mid-Term Price Trend of Bitcoin
Several reports over the past week from mainstream media outlets and high profile investors have claimed that the price of bitcoin could be negatively impacted by the launch of bitcoin futures, as it will be significantly easier to short bitcoin as well.
However, if that is the case, the price of bitcoin would not have increased at an exponential rate over the past few weeks, breaching the $12,000 mark.
As many experts including $1.6 billion bitcoin and cryptocurrency brokerage Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong noted, the launch of bitcoin futures and other institutional investor-targeted bitcoin trading platforms will enable over $10 billion in institutional money to flow into the bitcoin market.
If the price of bitcoin declines in the next few days, it will likely be triggered by the rapid increase in the value of bitcoin and the stabilization of the market. Often, as demonstrated by the performance of bitcoin dating back to 2014, the price of bitcoin tends to experience a major correction after achieving a new all-time high, and recover back to its previous all-time high to initiate a new rally.
In the short-term, the price of bitcoin will likely increase, especially upon the December 10 and December 18 bitcoin futures launches by CBOE and CME.