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LedgerX “Not Yet Approved” by CFTC to Launch Physical Bitcoin Futures

The United States Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) confirmed that LedgerX has not yet been approved to offer physically-settled Bitcoin futures in contrary to previous announcements.

LedgerX has officially launched their product on July 31, as they revealed to CoinDesk that they had launched the first physically-settled Bitcoin futures contracts in the U.S, surpassing Intercontinental Exchange’s Bakkt and TD Ameritrade-backed ErisX. CEO of LedgerX, Paul Chou disclosed to the media that retail customers can now be able to trade the product using the company’s new platform.

CFTC Chief Communications Officer Michael Short said in an emailed statement on Aug 1, “LedgerX has not yet been approved by the commission.” The CFTC approved LedgerX as a designated contract market (DCM), which was one of the two approvals LedgerX needed to proceed with the launch.

However, the CFTC has not yet approved the amendment the derivatives clearing organization (DCO) license. The CFTC states that they have 180 days to approve or deny a DCO application, which led to the conclusion by the LedgerX team that this period has passed, and they have not received an objection from the CFTC as they submitted the amendment on Nov 8, 2018. Paul Cho added that since it has been more than 180 days, they do not understand why the amendment has not been approved. He also added that there is little difference between swaps and futures products, but officially, they still lack the approval to launch physical Bitcoin futures.

Binance CEO Officially Announces the Launch of Binance Futures

The CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ had announced the official launch of Binance Futures. The announcement which he made open to the general public on September 9 could be seen bold strides in the right direction following the Bakkt’s announcement of the Bitcoin futures.

In an effort to get a feel of what the market would be like before the official launch the Exchange had made a previous unveiling of its crypto futures testnet last week. The test net was available for five days and launched on two platforms, platform A and platform B, so as to increase the scope of coverage of the market. In order to see weight the performance of the platforms more adequately, they were both pitched against each other to see which one performed better.

A week after the release of this test net, CZ made an official announcement of the official launch on his twitter handle:

Released today:
– Binance Futures officially launched, invitation-only for now
– Lending batch 3
– Top menu optimization
– API: real-time tick-by-tick updates for all symbols (an industry first?)
and maybe more. #onwards

The reaction of users to this new development

There were mixed reactions from users in response to the testnet that was previously launched. One of the testers named @2xjump posted a review on twitter expressing dissatisfaction with the working of the platform.

Bitmex had also expressed its dissatisfaction on twitter with the exchange for copying its Futures documentation. Although, the Twitter user has admitted that Binance’s futures platform is much better than BitMEX’s in terms of liquidation.

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Bakkt Platform Launched: Trades 71 Bitcoin Futures Contracts in 24 Hours

Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE) Bakkt platform traded 71 Bitcoin (BTC) futures contracts in its first 24 hours following its launch on Sept. 22.

ICE’s historical data on Bakkt’s Bitcoin/USD futures contract trading reveals that the platform traded 71 BTC at press time, with the last trading price recorded at $9,875 per Bitcoin.

According to his recent analysis, Rakesh Upadhyay believes that as the currency’s price has been range-bound, institutional traders are currently not in a hurry to initiate positions which has resulted in the Bakkt launches lukewarm reception.

Bakkt’s Initial margin limits

Prior to the platform’s launch, ICE announced their tentative margin requirements for the futures contracts. Bakkt set the initial hedge requirement for daily and monthly futures contracts at $3,900, while the speculative initial requirement for both contracts is $4,290. The margins for inter-month add-ons on monthly and daily futures contracts are between $400 and$1000 for the hedge rate and $440 and $1,100 for the speculative rate.

Mission behind Bakkt

The BTC futures trading platform was announced last year and is now the first of its kind to receive approval from United States regulators. Bakkt was established by the ICE with the intention of creating an integrated platform or “seamless global network, that enables consumers, merchants and institutional clients to buy, sell, store and spend digital assets.

Bakkt CEO, Kelly Loeffler said that the platform is a reflection of Bakkt’s mission of, “Expanding access to the global economy by building trust in and unlocking the value of digital assets.” The creation of the platform provides both consumers and investors with ‘reliable and regulated infrastructure’ while continuing the push for the mainstream “adoption of new digital currency-powered technology and financial instruments.”

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Possible Impacts of Bitcoin Futures on the World Economy in the Next 10 Years

Although the Bitcoin futures market has been around since 2017, public interest only spiked last month when Intercontinental Exchange’s Bakkt was launched. However, there are still some individuals who do not clearly understand what it is.

The definition of “futures,” also known as futures contract – is an agreement to sell or buy an asset at a set price, on a set date in the future. It is used to curtail risk involved with volatile assets.

Blockchain futures are contracts (as defined above) that people get into to buy Bitcoin or sell units of Bitcoin at a certain time in the future for an agreed price.

How has the introduction of Bitcoin futures impacted the market?

The Bitcoin futures market opened on the 2nd of December 2017 by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange(CME) and the Chicago Board Options Exchange, which was about the same time Bitcoin rose to its highest ever since its inception, the increase in price didn’t last too long, in just a few months it fell again.

Some Cryptocurrency experts say that the fall of Bitcoin after its boom was due to the opening of the Bitcoin futures market at that same time. This claim is not baseless; it is based on research and data accumulated from different trading days, before bitcoin’s fall in price. Even though there has been much research to prove this, it remains a theory, a probability; Bitcoin futures may have caused the markets to decline.

Another thing peculiar about this claim is, it states that even though Bitcoin may have caused the decline of prices in the market, this is just the short term effect; there is uncertainty about what the long term effect might be. Though most experts speculate that the long term effect of Bitcoin futures on the market, is to tame the market’s volatility, making Bitcoin- and many other cryptocurrencies- another regular investment.

These claims were refuted by the managing director of CME, one of the organizations that brought started Bitcoin futures; he said that Bitcoin futures had no hand in the decline of the market.

There are still some other groups of people who don’t go with or against popular opinion. They have another opinion on the matter; the effect of Bitcoin futures on the market will be to make it more informational efficient which it was still trying to be at the moment.

With all these speculations, claims and theories what should be expected in the next ten years?

There are two general opinions on the short term effect of Bitcoin futures on the state of the market:

Bitcoin futures in some way has affected the prices of Bitcoin negatively and
Bitcoin futures doesn’t affect the market at all

They are both based on sound grounds, data, and research. But for its long term effect on the market there has only been one speculation so far, which is; whether Bitcoin futures is good or bad, the presence of Bitcoin futures in the market will definitely consolidate the prices of cryptocurrencies in the market, giving it the ground and foundation to function as a viable asset, by reducing its high volatility.

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Adam White, COO of Bakkt on the Custody Offerings and Future Roadmap

Adam White, COO, Bakkt began his journey in the crypto world when he joined Coinbase six years ago, much to the dismay of his family and friends who believed he was throwing away his Harvard education on a pseudo-market. Driven by an innate interest in the potential of digital assets and by a stroke of luck, White found himself participating in what was supposed to be a casual conversation regarding Bitcoin and with then co-workers and now renowned digital pioneers Olga Kharif (PolyChain), Charlie Lee (founder of Litecoin) and Coinbase founders Bryan Armstrong and Fred Ersham. White recalls their conversation about Bitcoin leaving him feeling blown away and vindicated in his belief that there was a future in this market. He said, “I now wake up every day thinking about that conversation and the direction of Bitcoin and digital assets.”

Bakkt WarehouseAlthough it is often confused for an exchange, the Bakkt Warehouse is actually a regulated custodian and part of Bakkt Trust Company, which allows for the safe, secure storage of bitcoin. “Custody is at our core,” explained White, “Bakkt is a custodian. I think that when people see a crypto contract being traded they immediately think it is an exchange because like Coinbase, and most exchanges, the trade is vertically integrated meaning they are a custodian and exchange and trade on the front-end as well.” He continued, “What we’re trying to do at Bakkt Warehouse is bring digital assets, like Bitcoin, into the existing financial system. We’re not trying to build something separate and new or reimagine the system.”

The core competency of Bakkt comes from the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), a $54 billion publicly-traded company that owns the New York Stock Exchange, as well as 13 other exchanges globally and six clearing houses. “What’s unique about Bakkt is that as a qualified custodian we’re regulated by the State of New York Trust, effectively the same way that Bank of New York Mellon is and like them we have that trust license which allows us to be a qualified custodian of our customer’s assets.” White highlighted, “What makes Bakkt powerful is its symbiotic relationship with ICE that allows us, for the first time, to have an end to end regulated environment—regulated custody via Bakkt, regulated trading with ICE futures and regulated clearing with ICE clear. Essentially this means that we have no dependency on other external stock markets.”

On-Ramping with BakktOn-ramping in the world of digital assets refers to the conversion of a government based fiat-currency to a cryptocurrency. So how is it done at Bakkt? White explained, “First off, the trading participant must have two relationships, first is with a clearing member, known in the U.S. as a Futures Condition Merchant (FCM) which is the entity that the trader will send their dollars to and gives them access to trade on the derivatives exchange. Second, the trader needs a relationship with the Bakkt Warehouse, we are the custodian. A powerful feature of the Bakkt smart contract is that traders have the option to only provide dollars for margin which means they can sell short on contracts without having to deposit any bitcoin.”

Looking at both sides of the trade, White simplified the process further, “A customer could deposit dollars using their FCM and could trade at 3X leverage enabling them to start selling short on a contract. Once the contract comes closer to delivery the clearing member is going to ask for proof of Bitcoin because at this point the trade is short of the 3 Bitcoin the trading counterparty needs when they take delivery of the contract. At this point, the trading party would deposit Bitcoin to the Bakkt Warehouse.” He continued, “On the flip side if the trader uses dollars to buy a contract and then take it to delivery, they would receive Bitcoin into their accounts at Bakkt.”

Bakkt Clearing Process Vs Traditional ProcessBakkt is currently supported by six clearing houses. White explained the importance of understanding that there are two types of clearing members, “There are bank clearing members such as JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, large international conglomerates that tend to be more risk-averse and then there are non-bank FCMs, like ED&F Man and Phillip Capital. We have found pretty good adoption support from non-bank FCMs and we are starting to make good progress with bank FCMS as well.”According to White, “One of the big bottlenecks for new trading participants, is that they have to go out and get that clearing member relationship which can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. So it doesn’t happen overnight and it is the gatekeeper for access to the Bakkt Warehouse. Those clearing members, however, do not need to form a new banking relationship because they never touch Bitcoin, it is their trading member that has the relationship with the Bakkt warehouse as a custodian, and that provides them access to ICE Futures in this case.”

KYC/AML and Compliance

Bakkt customers are required to go through two KYC (Know-Your-Customer) processes. The first is mentioned above in the customer’s relationship with the clearing house. White said, “The customer then has to go through our KYC process, or as we call it CIT (Customer Identification Program) at the Bakkt Warehouse, but we are more focused on the compliance from the crypto-side.” He continued, “So we are looking at our customers from both sides, the deposits and the withdrawals. This a process that is quite unique to Bakkt and its actually very important as we can’t just allow customers to freely begin depositing Bitcoin because our marketplace is between institutional participants. And in order to get those new institutions to move in the space, where they’re going to be on the counter side, they need to know with absolute certainty that that Bitcoin is clean, that it has no compliance risk associated with it.”

Bakkt Future Roadmap

Currently, Bakkt has two contracts in the market for their products—a daily futures contract and a monthly futures contract. “That is just the tip of the iceberg,” said White, “We raised about $180 million last December through a number of investors like Microsoft’s M12 investment arm and Boston Consulting Group. We’ve got some strategic investors like CMT Eagle Seven, Galaxy, and Pantera and we would not have raised that amount of money if the only thing we were going to do was build a custodian and launch a couple of futures contracts hoping for the best.” He continued, “So you’ll probably see us continue to add more futures contracts. Right now, we’re just offering a Bitcoin dollar physically delivered daily and monthly. I think you can certainly expect us to offer more advanced contracts like options, potentially on Bitcoin at some point, but all these new products require regulatory approval and that takes time. You’ll probably see us add new futures contracts for other crypto assets as well, it’s just that right now Bitcoin is the only one with a future.”Although White did not go into great detail, he did mention, “We’re looking forward to launching a mass-consumer focused product in the first half of 2020. So next year, there will be a product that you will be able to download on your Apple phone or on your Android device and use in a way that will not only help you kind of invest in trade and speculate, but actually solve real problems towards the adoption of digital assets.”

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Partnership with Starbucks

Bakkt recently formed a new partnership with Starbucks, White clarified the nature of the partnership for those in attendance saying, “The intention is not that you’re going to walk into every Starbucks and see a ‘pay-with-Bitcoin’ option, Coinbase actually already provides this service. That is not the intention of what we’re building. Generally, we haven’t seen Bitcoin payments be massively successful. Because if you look at the user experience, it’s easier to tap my phone and pay than it is to scan a QR code, wait for the confirmation to be submitted and be confirmed before that transactions can proceed. It’s just not a great experience, especially for kind of small value transactions.” White highlighted, “We are building the ability for customers to take their digital assets, one of which is Bitcoin, and be able to use that to spend at different merchants for products and services. Like a cup of coffee at Starbucks. So it’s not necessarily going to be something that happens at a point of sale in the physical environment, but it will certainly be an application on your phone that would facilitate that that activity”

Thoughts on LibraResponding to a much-anticipated question, White believes that projects like Libra represent a healthy trend for blockchain development, as some of the world’s largest organizations are beginning to create more efficient access to financial services with public or permissioned blockchain. While Adam doesn’t take a stand on whether Libra will succeed, he is impressed with the likes of David Marcus and Kathryn Haun and their dedication to Libra development.

White foresees that multiple forms of digital assets will emerge and Libra will not pose a direct threat to Bitcoin.

The Faces Behind the Billion Dollar Bitcoin Futures Market

The Bitcoin (BTC) futures market has exploded like no one could have expected over recent years and it continues to grow. This summer, BitMEX hit a new all-time record for BTC futures trading at over $16 billion. CME recently petitioned the CFTC to double its BTC futures trading capacity in the face of soaring interest. Binance has entered the space, and Bakkt has launched with its physically delivered BTC futures product (albeit somewhat tepidly).

In the light of so much action, let’s take a look at some of the key faces working to build the billion-dollar BTC futures market.

1. Arthur Hayes

Love him or hate him (there are very few people who stand in the middle) co-founder and CEO of BitMEX is arguably the most powerful man in the BTC futures space right now. His exchange is widely recognized as the most liquid in the market and frequently turns over billions of dollars a day in trading volume.

With his company registered in Seychelles and offering 100x leverage, BitMEX has democratized the BTC futures space like no other. It’s made a lot of people a lot of money–and also left plenty of novice traders REKT. Hayes has made a few enemies along the way with globally-renowned anti-Bitcoin economist Nouriel Roubini labeling him a criminal with an unregulated exchange).

That doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s a brilliant mind that has come from nothing to build the most popular BTC futures exchange currently available for retail traders. With a degree in economics from the Wharton School of Business and trading derivates in Hong Kong for many years, he’s used his extensive knowledge to make BitMEX the number one platform it is.

2. Kelly Loeffler

Even though it’s only been out for a month, it feels as if the CEO of New York Stock Market’s Bakkt, Kelly Loeffler, has been part of the fabric of the BTC futures market for a while now. That’s because she has. Bakkt first announced its plans to enter the market with the first physically settled BTC futures contracts back in the summer of 2018. However, it has suffered various delays and setbacks from U.S. regulators.

Despite that, and although Bakkt’s debut failed to cause the stir that was expected, many people consider its physically settled BTC futures product to be revolutionary as it will (when they’re ready) force investors to purchase or take delivery of the actual underlying asset for the first time.

Moreover, it seems as if traction is finally growing for Bakkt, as it saw its record day on Friday trading futures contracts at over 1,100 BTC.

Despite Kelly being key in ushering in a new era of futures products, she’s also a woman. And with so few women in blockchain, it’s refreshing to see a female making such an essential contribution to the BTC futures market.

3. Changpeng Zhou (CZ)

Changpeng Zhou (CZ) really needs no introduction. If you haven’t heard of CZ by now, you probably haven’t heard of Bitcoin or cryptocurrency either. As CEO and founder of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency exchange Binance, the company that shook the crypto world, only recently entered the crypto derivatives space. But they already hit a massive $150 million in 24-hour trading on their beta platform–and then surpassed the 24-hour trading volume of its spot markets earlier this month.

More importantly than that, Chinese-Canadian coder CZ’s got personality in bucketloads and are often leading and influencing debates going on in the crypto space. He’s also on the Forbes billionaire’s listwith a real-time net worth of $1.2 billion.

4. Terry Duffy

As chairman and CEO of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group (CME), you would think that the man at the helm of one of the highest-profile BTC futures trading products would be a little more bullish on Bitcoin. Despite smashing trading volume records and his competitors CBOE into submission, Terry Duffy doesn’t see Bitcoin as having a long-term future.

He toldBusiness Insider at the FIA’s International Futures Industry Conference in Florida earlier this year that he only saw fiat-backed digital currencies as staying the distance. He also believes that there is too much speculation in the space and not enough use cases (ironic, given the nature of his business).

Still, that was before the recent talks with the CFTC, and while Bakkt’s launch date was still somewhat blurry. Perhaps, Terry’s outlook has changed since then.

5. Jesse Powell

Co-founder and CEO of one of the industry’s longest-running cryptocurrency exchanges, Kraken, Jesse Powell, is an influential figure in the industry. He’s also a pretty decent guy and one of the first to offer assistance in high-profile exchange hacks. Kraken is well-known for refusing to give in to regulatory bullying too, negating to comply with a New York inquiryfor customer information.

Not wishing to be left out of the BTC futures space, Kraken purchasedUK-based Crypto Facilities derivatives trading firm earlier this year. The move made Kraken the first crypto exchange for offering spot trading and futures trading (although not to U.S. customers).

6. Adam Todd

Pertaining to another impressive BTC futures platform that is yet to launch, there are few people in this industry who haven’t heard of Adam Todd or seen his legendary viral videos. After a couple of highly public delays and developer fall outs, Adam has teamed up with developers SmartDec to get his industry-first commission-free futures exchange over the line.

Another of crypto’s controversial figures, the Digitex Futures CEO, is bringing something arguably even more unique to the BTC futures space with zero-fee trading. With the testnet launch coming up on 30 Nov on the Ethereum mainnet, soon active short-term traders will be able to trade BTC futures contracts aggressively and pursue scalping strategies that simply aren’t possible on the fee-charging exchange models currently available.

Wrapping it up

There are plenty more faces behind the billion-dollar BTC futures market with more and more exchanges throwing their hats into the ring all the time. From established players like OKEx and Bitfinex to newer entrants like Derebit and Idax, a lot of money is changing hands daily in this burgeoning industry. With new developments afoot with physically-settled BTC futures contracts and commission-free trading, there’s plenty to keep your eye on in the derivatives space.

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Intercontinental Exchange Plans to Launch Bakkt Bitcoin USD Cash Settled Monthly Futures

Singaporean Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) announced its plan to launch the Bakkt Bitcoin (USD) Cash Settled Monthly Futures, the first well-regulated futures platform for cryptocurrencies, on Dec. 9. The International Exchange operates top exchange platforms and clearinghouses. It also provides data and renders listing services for tokens/coins.

Per the new contract, the Bakkt Bitcoin (USD) Cash Settled Monthly Futures will be made live on ICE Singapore and will also be cleared by ICE Clear, in Singapore as well. Both platforms are under the regulation of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Lucas Schmeddes, President & COO of ICE Futures and Clear Singapore, expressed his view about the new contract saying that it has the potential to Asian and global investors an effective and efficient way to make a profit from bitcoin trading by offering a reliable, stable, secure and compliant atmosphere through leveraging ICE markets.

“Our new cash-settled futures contract will offer investors in Asia and around the world a convenient, capital-efficient way to gain or hedge exposure in bitcoin markets. Building off the success of our deliverable futures contract, the cash-settled futures will leverage ICE’s regulated, globally-accessible market to offer a safe, secure, and compliant environment for the trading of bitcoin,” said Schmeddes.

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Binance CEO Boosting the Super Exchange Ecosystem, With the Possibility of Adding Options

Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO of Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, was a keynote speaker at multiple blockchain-themed events in Singapore in mid-November. During these events, CZ made new announcements regarding the company’s new partnerships and new products that will be rolling out.

Blockchain.News took this opportunity to speak with CZ, one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the crypto industry at Blockshow Asia 2019, held in Singapore to gain a more in-depth understanding of the new partnerships and products that Binance has to offer.

What has Binance been up to lately?

Binance has been adding a lot of new functions such as staking and airdrops and the support for forks. CZ mentioned that later on, there may be plans to support payments and other features. The concept of a super exchange was aimed to allow users to have access to various value-added services on the app. He mentioned: “We are in the mobile internet stage area now, so we got a lot more features on the app. We do see a majority of people using exchanges for crypto, on the go. We’ve got to make our app a lot better.”

DeFi vs. CeFi: What does Binance have in store?

Legacy banking services have very high demand, according to CZ. “We pushed out fixed-term lending and also released variable term lending, which means you can lend and redeem at the same time. The interest rates are much better compared to traditional financial banks or financial markets,” explained CZ. The focus of the release of the lending platform was to benefit users as they would be able to earn up to 15% interest on their BNB, ETC, and USDT.

“DeFi is a very hot topic in our industry, right now, we want to do that as well, but before that, with CeFi [centralized finance] we also want to provide whatever our users demand first,” said CZ.

Binance Futures requested by active traders

Binance Futures launched in September, shortly after its launch, an all-time high record was recorded at 315,000 BTC being traded in 24-hour volume, which was around 2.9 billion USD. Binance Futures allows for highly leveraged trading using a sophisticated risk engine and liquidation model, as well as a built-in hedging tool to enable traders to manage risks.

When Binance first launched, only 20X leverage was available when it came to trading futures. It was a new product at the time, and CZ explained that the company did not know how deep the liquidity would be and whether the company could manage leverage and liquidations properly.

“Binance futures has grown tremendously, and right now the single contracts in BTC futures has surpassed Binance.com spot, in terms of daily volume, with about 170 different coins. We feel that the liquidity is there, and the volume is there, so we decided on the higher leverage of 125x,” explained CZ. He explained that the higher leverage was frequently requested by the active traders on the platform, resulting in the decision to provide the service. CZ encouraged experienced traders to take higher leverage for lower trading costs, as less capital will be tied to trading.

Binance DEX and its ecosystem

Binance DEX is the decentralized exchange running on Binance’s native chain, Binance Chain. The Binance DEX development team has encouraged projects to participate in issuing new tokens on Binance’s native blockchain. CZ believes that decentralized exchanges bring hope and new possibilities as it offers a trustless and transparent financial system while providing more control over the users’ own assets. According to CZ, Binance DEX is actively being worked on by a team of 50 to 70 developers. There is a hard upgrade every month, and a few new features will be announced soon by CZ.

Options in the future?

Binance acquired JEX, an options and futures platform that works differently compared to the traditional financing options. The acquisition of JEX was to boost Binance’s crypto derivatives offerings for pro traders. Binance JEX has “pseudo options,” which CZ refers to, for insurance types of options as well as hedging. CZ announced that in the next three to nine months, Binance is looking to offer options. CZ also mentioned that Binance has been working with several partners to launch social trading in the future.

Integration of fiat gateway with Paxos

Paxos, the regulated, New York-based exchange and stablecoin issuer has launched a new fiat gateway service, making swaps between US Dollars and stablecoins available to users. Binance became the first cryptocurrency exchange to integrate the new product, with Binance USD (BUSD). CZ elaborated: “That’s a very easy on and off-ramp from BUSD, or PAX into US dollars into bank accounts.” He also mentioned that the two companies would be working more closely to integrate new solutions.

‘Every exchange should provide staking rewards’

The Binance CEO believes that every exchange should provide staking rewards. “I think this is a fundamental thing that we need to provide. Every exchange should provide that. We try to provide our users with all the benefits that cryptocurrency offers them, including staking rewards, with any coins that have staking mechanisms,” he explained. “We don’t make any money out of it, and we don’t charge any fees, it’s just a value-added service we provide, we believe that is a fundamental right for the users who hold cryptocurrency with us to enjoy those benefits.”

He firmly believes that this will encourage more users to hold cryptocurrencies with the company, and does not give anyone an excuse not to, which helps the company’s trading business. “We are in a very strong position where we do have a strong revenue source from trading fees, and we can subsidize all these businesses, and we can support additional businesses this way.”

Binance’s native phone on its native blockchain

Another recent announcement that was made was regarding Binance’s partnership with the Taiwanese mobile phone company HTC. The new Binance Exodus phone made in collaboration with HTC, with an embedded hardware secure wallet, the HTC phone also supports Bitcoin nodes, where 250 gigabytes of Bitcoin data will be available on the phone. “It’s a native phone that is supported by the Binance Chain. It also supports BTC, BTC tokens, and Binance DEX,” said CZ. “I do believe that the mobile phone is a very key device acting as a wallet, and it is a master device we carry around with us every day. I think this is very good progress for us and HTC.”

Bakkt Launches Two New Regulated Trading Products Ahead of Schedule

Bakkt launched its market for physically-settled Bitcoin futures in September this year, just launched its Options tied to its Bitcoin futures today.

Backed by the same owners of the New York Stock Exchange, Bakkt launched two new products, including Bitcoin monthly options and Bitcoin cash-settled futures. Cash-settled futures are tied to Bakkt’s first contract starting trading through ICE Futures Singapore, while over 1200 lots have already been traded in the new contract. The idea was to allow institutional investors who have not had a lot of exposure to crypto a way into investing in digital assets, including Bitcoin.

According to Bakkt, the Bitcoin monthly options are based on monthly Bitcoin futures contracts and are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Adam White, COO of Bakkt previously indicated that the cash-settled Bitcoin contracts would not be available until 2020. However, Intercontinental Exchange, Bakkt’s parent company, was reportedly fast-tracking the launch and has been in talks with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). As the MAS regulates the cash-settled futures for trading on ICE Futures, it became the first regulated US-based exchange breaking into the Asian derivatives market.

In a Medium post, White mentioned, “These new contracts represent an important milestone in the development of this emerging asset class and our bitcoin product complex. Backed by the strong support and commitment of the Intercontinental Exchange team, we have great momentum going into 2020 and an exciting product roadmap that includes new trading products, an expanded custody offering, an innovative consumer payments app, and more.”

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JPMorgan Reveals Market is Highly Anticipating the Launch of CME Bitcoin Options

According to JPMorgan Chase & Co, Institutional interest in Bitcoin-related contracts appears to be building, and they believe the market is in high anticipation of the CME Group Inc. options, which are to be launched on Jan. 13.Recently we have seen institutions such as Bakkt, subsidiary of the New York Stock Exchange and its parent Intercontinental Exchange Inc., start offering options last month but according to strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou in a note on Jan 10., volumes and open interest haven’t met the expected mark. However he expects with the dominance of CME in trading Bitcoin futures on regulated exchanges, this new offering may change things, as reported by Bloomberg.

“There has been a step increase in the activity of the underlying CME futures contract.” Panigirtzoglou had noted in his writing that open interest had seen a 69% increase from the end of the year and that the number of large interest holders had increased. “This unusually strong activity over the past few days likely reflects the high anticipation among market participants of the option contract.”

The price of Bitcoin has always caused the price movement of Bitcoin to have a mixed reaction. There were times it had appeared to have dragged, such as when ICE announced the debut of its new futures contracts in September. And the price climaxed to $19000 in December 2017 following the launch of the futures for CME and Cboe Global Markets Inc.

The price of Bitcoin saw a 2.1% increase to $8,209.42 as of 11 a.m. in Hong Kong, according to Bitstamp pricing: this was near its highest levels since mid-November. According to the report, the intrinsic value of Bitcoin has been on the increase but remains below the market price. JPMorgan calculates the intrinsic value of Bitcoin by treating it as a commodity, considerations such as the marginal cost of production, the computational power and the cost of electricity used are key elements.

Panigirtzoglou stated in his writing, “The market price has declined by nearly 40% from its peak while the intrinsic value has risen by around 10%,”. But that “the gap has not yet fully closed, suggesting some downside risk remains.”

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