Bitcoin Forum

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Nasdaq — the world’s second-largest stock exchange — plans to roll out bitcoin futures in the first quarter of 2019 through a partnership with investment management firm VanEck.

Gabor Gurbacs, VanEck’s director of digital asset strategy, said the companies will launch a variety of bitcoin derivatives in early-2019, including a “regulated crypto 2.0 futures-type contract.”

Gurbacs made the announcement during the Consensus: Invest conference in New York on November 27, CNBC reported.

‘Transparent and Regulated’

In a follow-up tweet, Gurbacs said Nasdaq and VanEck will unveil “transparent, regulated and surveilled digital asset products, such as bitcoin futures contracts.”

Nasdaq has been working with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to make sure it fully complies with any lingering regulatory concerns the country’s main swaps regulator has.

Gurbacs confirmed that VanEck also “ran a few extra miles working with the CFTC to bring about new standards for custody and surveillance.”

    @Nasdaq and VanEck’s @MVISIndices announces #index #partnership and intention to bring to market transparent, regulated and surveilled #DigitalAssets products, such as #Bitcoin futures contracts. More info to come. Share & follow us. #crypto #futures #SMARTS #ConsensusInvest pic.twitter.com/Q2oCZx4pp1

    — Gabor Gurbacs (@gaborgurbacs) November 27, 2018

The CFTC, which regulates bitcoin as a commodity, has so far approved just two crypto futures products: one from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), and another from the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE)
ICE Will Launch Bitcoin Futures In Q1

Meanwhile, Nasdaq’s rival ICE (Intercontinental Exchange) — the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange — is also charging ahead with its own plans to launch a physically-settled bitcoin futures product in the first quarter of 2019.

Bakkt, a cryptocurrency exchange built by ICE, plans to roll out its bitcoin futures market on January 24, after scrapping the original launch date of Dec. 12, 2018.

As CCN reported, ICE cited an unforeseen increase in demand for its futures product, the Bakkt Bitcoin (USD) Daily Futures Contract, for the delay.

VanEck: SEC Will Approve Bitcoin ETF Soon

Separately, VanEck is still trying to win approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch the first-ever bitcoin ETF.

In August 2018, the SEC rejected nine bitcoin ETF applications, dashing the hopes of crypto evangelists like the Winklevoss twins, who have repeatedly failed to win SEC approval.

In its order rejecting the latest round of bitcoin ETFs, the SEC said the applicants failed to demonstrate how they could prevent fraud and market manipulation.

Despite the recent SEC rejections, VanEck’s Gabor Gurbacs said he believes SEC approval is around the corner, as CCN reported.

“We are the closest that we can be,” Gurbacs told Fox Business. “It is very clear to me that America wants a bitcoin ETF and we are here to build it.”

Despite the recent market slump, Gurbacs is supremely confident about the long-term future of the crypto industry. “I say bitcoin is digital gold, and we should not dismiss a potential opportunity for the next financial system,” he said.


Reference: https://www.ccn.com/nasdaq-to-launch-bitcoin-futures-2-0-in-early-2019/

I doubt that there is an increase in demand for BTC futures product. An increase from a dozen persons isn't significant lol. Perhaps for institutions but for the average Joe, I don't think there is an interest at all.
Well, I can be wrong of course, but so, they will all want to create their BTC future. Regulation isn't what people are looking, they want to invest in Bitcoin mainly because they don't really know how to.

It all comes down to competition. In the next couple of years we'll see more legacy players try to claim their cut of the pie, and yes, it's largely focused to serve wealthy entities rather than the average joes sitting at home.

In terms of the demand for these futures, I think it's pretty decent if you compare it to actual top tier USD Bitcoin exchanges;

CME $133 million 24h volume.
Coinsbank $100 million 24h volume.
Coinbase Pro $91 million 24 volume.
Bitstamp $68 million 24h volume.
Kraken $50 million 24h volume.

Pretty impressive stats from CME if you ask me.

The only people who are buying futures are those who are at the same time manipulating the normal market. If you wanted to invest why would you buy futures instead of the real thing? But if you wanted to sell a lot of bitcoins or knew someone who is going to sell, suddenly futures start looking like a much better option.

VanEck also spearheaded the first Bitcoin ETF in Switzerland, https://www.etftrends.com/multi-crypto-etp-is-coming-to-switzerland/ So they are not waiting for the US regulators <SEC> to approve the ETF in America.

I am not too excited by more Bitcoin Futures on Nasdaq, but the possibility of a Bitcoin ETF gets me jittery to say the least. A Bitcoin ETF will definitely have a bigger impact on institutional investments into Bitcoin than another Bitcoin Futures product on Nasdaq.  ;)

These futures appeal to institutions because they don't care about the real thing, they are only out to ride its exposure. Why would they buy Bitcoin when this is just as efficient?

They don't want the hassle of storing coins, which isn't as easy as it may seem. People think a paper wallet or hardware wallet is enough, but it's not. Securely storing millions worth of coins goes way beyond that.

If you look at gold for example, most of the volume generated consists of derivatives tied to it, and not the real thing itself, and the same will happen to Bitcoin when more and more institutions enter the market.

What makes it a "2.0" futures contract? Are there any details about the contract specs? I don't see anything in the article indicating how it would differ from offerings already on the market. It sounds like VanEck is just trying to stir up hype, especially since all they can say about the ETF is "soon."

Nice that NASDAQ will do the Bitcoin future, hope they will support the Bitcoin ETF soon.

https://hacked.com/vaneck-confirms-nasdaq-will-launch-bitcoin-futures-2-0-next-year/

It's basically a futures product that's physically backed by Bitcoin, which as it is right now, hasn't been done before, so in that sense, it could be seen as a 2.0 futures contract. Bakkt doesn't yet have an approval, so we'll see which of these entities end up having the first mover advantage.

I initially thought these futures would be granted an easy approval, but now I think about it, these are physically backed, and just like the SEC, the CFTC might not like that idea.

That could very well be the reason Bakkt didn't launch as planned and probably won't be able to launch in January. If you think about it, the scarcity aspect of Bitcoin is easily countered by having cash settled products available in any quantity.

If you look at gold for example, it took ages to finally have a gold backed ETF approved, while non backed instruments were widely available already. Probably a sign that they aren't loaded up yet and don't want to inflate prices unnecessarily.

We'll see where it goes from here, but I wouldn't be surprised if all this turns out to become a huge disappointment for people hoping that it will affect the market positively.

CME volume is false. I doo weekly analysys of CME and CBOE and weekly vol iz $78 million, not 24h you can see my reports on my Telegram channel. Analysis is made from CFTC homepage.