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Bitcoin Futures Set to Start Trading as Regulator Gives Thumbs Up
Dec. 1, 2017
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said it would allow two major Chicago exchanges to launch bitcoin futures.
The Friday announcement paves the way for the start of bitcoin futures on CME Group Inc. and Cboe Global Markets Inc. in the coming weeks—a potentially huge step in the evolution of the digital currency, making trading bitcoin easier for Wall Street banks and small investors alike.
CME said its bitcoin futures would launch Dec. 18. Cboe said it would shortly announce the start date for its new bitcoin contract.
After “extensive discussions” in recent weeks, the two exchanges made significant changes to their proposals at the regulator’s request, the CFTC said.
Those included steps to reduce the risk of market manipulation. The agency said it expects CME and Cboe to closely monitor trading in their partner bitcoin exchanges, and to assist the CFTC in surveillance of those marketplaces.
Still, CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo warned investors of bitcoin’s notorious volatility.
“Market participants should take note that the relatively nascent underlying cash markets and exchanges for bitcoin remain largely unregulated markets over which the CFTC has limited statutory authority,” he said in the statement. “There are concerns about the price volatility and trading practices of participants in these markets.”
CME and Cboe used “self-certification,” declaring to the CFTC that the new contracts are in accordance with relevant laws and regulations. The agency has the power to block a self-certified contract, but otherwise it goes forward.
Both exchanges self-certified their bitcoin futures on Friday. Under agency rules, that means trading could start as soon as Monday.
Bitcoin futures would allow traders to bet the price of the digital currency will rise or fall, as they can with commodities such as oil, corn and gold.
Market proponents argue that this could reduce volatility in the underlying market, by allowing an easy way to “short” bitcoin—that is, bet its price will fall. Futures would also allow Wall Street banks and other big financial players to hedge against a price collapse.
The CFTC also said on Friday that the tiny Cantor Exchange had self-certified a bitcoin binary option—a derivative that offers a different way to bet on bitcoin prices. The exchange is owned by Cantor Fitzgerald LP, a prominent brokerage and investment-banking group.
Alright so are we expecting the BTC prices to go up when the future trading opens on the 18th? Also what is future trading? I'm a finance noob and you guys are pretty helpful at explaining this shit to me
Kind of reminds me of that news story many years ago when someone gifted someone bitcoin on TV and because the QR code was visible someone claimed it before the actual recipient could claim it.
We just got a glimpse of how bitcoin futures will work
Dec. 1, 2017
CME Group, one of the largest exchange groups in the world, announced last week it will roll out a bitcoin futures contract in the fourth quarter.
The announcement has generated a lot of buzz on Wall Street, and sparked a big rally in the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin climbed from $6,100 on October 30 (the day before the announcement) to more than $7,000 on November 7.
Futures, which allow two parties to exchange an asset at a specified price at an agreed upon date in the future, have been around since the late 19th century. In some cases, when a futures contract settles the buyer of the contract can receive their payment in the product itself (a barrel of oil, say), or in cash. The latter are referred to as cash settled futures. CME's bitcoin futures will settle in cash. (You can read a full explainer on bitcoin futures here.)
As futures get ready for trading, CME this week sent out a note setting out how the bitcoin futures will work. Here's what you need to know:
Each contract is composed of five bitcoin.
Each tick (the minimum fluctuation) will be $5 per bitcoin, amounting to $25 per contract. This means that every time the contract moves by the smallest increment a trader will gain or lose $25 per contract they hold.
Bitcoin futures will trade on CME Globex and CME ClearPort from 5 p.m. to 4 p.m. CT Sunday to Friday. The long trading hours are typical of futures contracts that are traded electronically.
There is a spot position limit of 1,000 contracts. Futures contracts always have limits on the number of contracts one person or entity owns. This prevents someone from being able to "corner the market."
Bitcoin futures will have a price limit of 20% above or below the prior settlement price.
Price settlement will be based on the Bitcoin Reference Rate, or a daily reference rate of the US dollar price of one bitcoin as of 4:00 p.m. London time.
Maybe I'm a fool but I just purchased a 3X PCIx 3.0 board with three AMD RX 580. Already have 24GB of DDR4 and a i5 7500. $3000/bitcoin was the breakeven price between cost of power and Bitcoin price. With it at about 20K, it's well worth it now. However, they're parts I could easily sell or use. No way I'm pouring money into Bitcoin. I've been stung by high-risk investments before. And I'm not planning on purchasing one of those ASCI machines that are essentially good for nothing but mining. If Bitcoin pops, I have a pretty wicked gaming machine - much better than my single GTX 960
I have a brand new gaming rig... well.. I bought it for producing music and has everything besides a proper video card (so not a gaming rig- yet )
I got the newest 8th gen i7 processor the day it came out, 2x 8GB of DDR4, and whatever else hoopla... is it sufficient for me to start mining? When I'm not producing music, the computer just sits there, sometimes over a week at a time. I figure I might as well put it to use, or something, hahaha.
I still don't overly understand the concept of how one begins to mine... I guess some research is in order. But hey, if my computer can make me even just a little bit of extra cash, while it just sits there unused... why not?
Edit: Wow, maybe not. It almost doesn't even seem worth mining, just from my quick scour of the net. Not at my level, anyway.
I find it absolutely bizzare that normal currency, like the US dollar, which is used in every corner of the world and is considered the world currency still these days, is worth nothing in comparison to a barely used (who actually accepts bitcoins as payment?), non physical currency that only a small fraction of the population even cares about.
I just don't understand how a value number gets associated with a bitcoin. Why is it worth 19.3k one hour, and 16.5k the next? What causes these massive fluctuations in value? Why is bitcoin so valuable, if no one uses it?
I have a brand new gaming rig... well.. I bought it for producing music and has everything besides a proper video card (so not a gaming rig- yet )
I got the newest 8th gen i7 processor the day it came out, 2x 8GB of DDR4, and whatever else hoopla... is it sufficient for me to start mining? When I'm not producing music, the computer just sits there, sometimes over a week at a time. I figure I might as well put it to use, or something, hahaha.
I still don't overly understand the concept of how one begins to mine... I guess some research is in order. But hey, if my computer can make me even just a little bit of extra cash, while it just sits there unused... why not?
Edit: Wow, maybe not. It almost doesn't even seem worth mining, just from my quick scour of the net. Not at my level, anyway.
Yes and No. Yes (possibly) because even though you may not make much, it doesn't hurt to keep the computer mining IF the amount you'll make exceeds the cost you pay for power. The cost per KWH is extremely important. I pay about 12 cents per KWH. I determined that my breakeven point for mining was about $5000/bitcoin. With it as high as it is, it's certainly profitable.
No, because at lower levels, even if price/KWH is low enough compared to Bitcoin price, you may be looking at only making cents per day. However, if you make, say, 50 cents per day, and let the system run every day for 365 days, that's $180 Yeah, that's not much and probably not worth it. But it can be fun anyways. With the hardware I've purchased I'm calculating that I'll make about $8/day AFTER power costs. Hey, that's $240 a month. Problem is, the price of Bitcoin fluctuates so much that it could drop to $0 (or even less after power) or skyrocket to $1000 per month. Who knows. Good thing is, you can hang onto bitcoins until the price is higher before you sell. And like I said, if it tanks, what's the loss? Assuming you don't go out and spend $5000 on some mining rig.....
Originally Posted by TacoBello
I find it absolutely bizzare that normal currency, like the US dollar, which is used in every corner of the world and is considered the world currency still these days, is worth nothing in comparison to a barely used (who actually accepts bitcoins as payment?), non physical currency that only a small fraction of the population even cares about.
I just don't understand how a value number gets associated with a bitcoin. Why is it worth 19.3k one hour, and 16.5k the next? What causes these massive fluctuations in value? Why is bitcoin so valuable, if no one uses it?
It's largely due to the REAL money poured into it. If a billion dollars were sunk into poop, the price of poop would suddenly become very high. Everyone would be eating more so they could poop more, then sell it (or use it as currency). Bitcoin is nothing different IMO. Yes, it's a "centralized currency". But like any currency, it's only as good as people are willing to pay for it or accept it as payment. Some countries have had massive inflation where a loaf of break costs $500,000 because their money wasn't worth anything. Although I understand the premise of cryptocurrency (eg. not controlled by government), I personally don't think this bitcoin thing will last. If it does, hey, cool beans. We'll all get paid in cryptocurrency and countries will abandon their own currency. If not, a lot of people will be out a lot of money while others will make a fortune. Just like any other high risk investment.
I think a central universal currency will one day become the norm. But I think it will be many years in the future. We'll have barcodes or something attached to our arm, or everything will be tracked by retinal scan. Sort of like "credits" in futuristic games. Will Bitcoin be that? I doubt it. But who knows. It might very well be the beginning. But hell if I'm going to sink US dollars into it other than spending a bit on some cool gaming hardware.
11-26-2017, 10:31 PM
indeed
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I'm a finance noob and you guys are pretty helpful at explaining this shit to me
)
It might very well be the beginning. But hell if I'm going to sink US dollars into it other than spending a bit on some cool gaming hardware.