After launching Micro Bitcoin futures in May, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is expected to launch Ethereum micro futures on December 6. The Micro Ether futures will be one-tenth the size of an Ethereum coin. 

According to the marketplace, investors will be able to trade much smaller amounts with this than with current Ethereum futures.

CME's Micro Bitcoin futures had 1 million contract trades by the end of June. The CME Group launched Ether Futures in February, and contract liquidity has steadily increased. In May of this year, the exchange launched its Micro Bitcoin future, which had 2.7 million contracts traded as of November.

The CME Group's bitcoin futures are based on prices from five cryptocurrency exchanges. Futures lock in the Bitcoin price, but they differ from the current spot price of bitcoin. Any ETF that is based on futures can underperform the underlying asset that it is supposed to track.

CME Group's global head of equity index and alternative investment products, Tim McCourt states, “Since the launch of Ether futures in February, we have seen a steady growth in liquidity in these contracts, especially among institutional traders,”

He adds, “At the same time, the price of ether has more than doubled since these contracts were introduced, creating a demand for a micro-sized contract to make this market even more accessible to a broader range of participants.”

CME's Ethereum futures contracts, which were established in February, currently allow investors to trade on contracts valued at 50 ETH, or $224,780 in cryptocurrency. The micro Ethereum contracts, on the other hand, will cost a tenth of an ETH, or roughly $449.56 at the time of writing. 

Pavan A

CBW - External Analyst

INDIA