[2017-12-15] CBOE bitcoin futures surge 8% Friday, head for winning first week

[cybersofts]

CBOE bitcoin futures surge 8% Friday, head for winning first week

   - CBOE's bitcoin futures rise on stronger demand Friday as the first week of trading wraps up.
   - Trading volume reached 1,000 contracts Friday morning, near the full-day trading volume of the last few days.
   - The contract triggers a two-minute trading halt early Friday morning as prices climb, tracking for weekly gains of 17.5 percent.




Cboe's bitcoin futures looked set to end their first week of trading higher on slightly stronger demand.

The futures contract, which trades under the ticker XBT and expires in January, triggered a two-minute trading halt at 5:37 a.m., ET, Friday and was last trading 8 percent higher at $18,170, as of 8:36 a.m., ET. At that price, the bitcoin futures were on pace for gains of about 17.5 percent in their first week of trading.

The contract had traded more than 1,000 contracts by 8:36 a.m., ET. Full-day trading volume had hovered closer to 1,000 and 1,500 in the last few days after topping 4,100 contracts on the first day. That's still relatively small compared to futures for the Cboe's Volatility Index (.VIX), whose daily trading volume typically ranges from the tens of thousands to more than one hundred thousand.



The Cboe bitcoin futures have had a relatively smooth first week of trading. The futures triggered two brief trading halts Sunday night as prices surged, and triggered another temporary trading halt Wednesday as the futures fell 10 percent. The halts were in accordance with Cboe's trading rules and match similar rules for other market products.

However, investor participation remained light as firms preferred to monitor the first futures contract on an established exchange for a notoriously volatile asset. As of Thursday, major banks such as Goldman Sachs were offering limited to no support for clients to trade bitcoin futures.

Bitcoin itself was trading 7.5 percent higher at $17,785, according to CoinDesk's bitcoin price index. The digital currency has gained 10.5 percent for the week, nearly 79 percent for December, and 1,733 percent for the year, according to CoinDesk.

The world's largest futures exchange, CME, is set to launch its own bitcoin futures contract Sunday evening.

Other digital currencies fell Friday after surging in the last few days to record highs. Ethereum traded more than 4.5 percent lower at $662, Ripple, or XRP, traded more than 9 percent lower at 78.4 cents, and bitcoin's offshoot bitcoin cash fell more than 12.5 percent to $1,713, according to CoinMarketCap. Litecoin traded little changed at $279, the website showed.


Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/15/cboe-bitcoin-futures-surge-8-percent-friday-head-for-winning-first-week.html

[Kemarit]

The price went as high as $18,000 based on coinmarketcap so it looks like a good ending for the week. However, based on my experience on stocks, usually Friday doesn't have much movement. Though I can't really compare those two I guess. But if this impact really bring positives amongst us then we should take it as a good sign that once CME opens its doors to bitcoin future contract the price could really cross $20,000. Exciting times ahead. Only a couple of days before CME and then we will see if the price could go further or if we are going to see reduced volatility as this have been showed earlier. Let's see how it pans out if everyone's prediction of $20,000 will happen.

[aso118]

We still have the CME futures waiting to make their debut. So the big whales might be waiting on the sidelines, ready to take the plunge when futures become established. If exchange traded funds make their debut, Bitcoin may be a run away success.

[richardsNY]

If exchange traded funds make their debut, Bitcoin may be a run away success.

It already is. In 2018 we also have the Nasdaq entering Bitcoin land, where by that time we'll see institutions have a wide set of Bitcoin tied financial instruments to invest in. On top of that, Bitcoin will gain more and more traction as long term store of value since saving money isn't rewarding anymore, and most traditional investment options are also not worth it in comparison to the gains people will potentially manage to yield with Bitcoin. Seriously, I might even convert a certain part of my savings to Bitcoin now we're close to negative interest rates. I'll need to see how things go and might use the next best correction as a great moment to convert a part of my savings.