[2018-1-17]Cboe's First Bitcoin Futures Contract Expired Today

[hugeblack]

The first bitcoin futures contract listed by Cboe has expired, a move that came amid a turbulent day of trading that saw the cryptocurrency's price drop below $10,000.

First listed in mid-December, the futures had a rocky start but ultimately those platform issues were resolved. The opening day for the contract saw the price climbing above $15,000.

According to data from CNBC, the F8 contract settled at a price of $11,055, a notable development considering that, at one point today, the price of bitcoin slid to as low as $9,199.59, according to CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index.

Yet in the period of time after the F8 contract settled, bitcoin's price appears to be reversing the trend it has seen in the past two days. At press time, the BPI is reporting a price of $11,344.66 – a figure that is just several dollars above the day's open.

Cboe data suggests that the market for its G8 contract (set to expire on 2/14) is trading slightly below the market, with the firm's official website reporting a price of $11,220.00.

As for what the future will bring for Cboe's work in the cryptocurrency space, a recent press event covered by Bloomberg suggests that the company may explore products built around other coins – but that is likely to come after more months of work around the futures product.

Source: https://www.coindesk.com/cboes-first-bitcoin-futures-contract-expired-today/

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[BitHodler]

I have already seen people speculate about the price going down due to the expiry of the first contract, but that's pretty much impossible considering how low the actual interest has been in these futures.

It just doesn't justify the resources of whatever entity needed to get the market to plummet this hard. It may eventually be an option later in the future, but for that to happen there needs to be far more capital involved.

And I too believe that Bitcoin isn't the only coin for ever with these futures tied to it. This market is growing so large, that even certain top altcoins can turn out to be money making machines for these platforms.

[bbc.reporter]

@BitHodler. Also no bitcoin really changes hands after expiration of the contracts. The CME Group's futures contracts function more like contracts for difference. All that does is trade the movement of the markets without really holding the asset. Therefore it is useless manipulating the real bitcoin market.

[chiggz]

I have already seen people speculate about the price going down due to the expiry of the first contract, but that's pretty much impossible considering how low the actual interest has been in these futures.

It just doesn't justify the resources of whatever entity needed to get the market to plummet this hard. It may eventually be an option later in the future, but for that to happen there needs to be far more capital involved.

And I too believe that Bitcoin isn't the only coin for ever with these futures tied to it. This market is growing so large, that even certain top altcoins can turn out to be money making machines for these platforms.

Indeed. In theory futures could manipulate the market. But its not the case here. The futures trades might deal in a few thousands of BTC's but I don't see it plummeting the entire markets when you compare to the huge exchanges. Market manipulation, Pumping dumping, Scam Offerings are all part of the unregulated markets. People just want to blame it on something or someone to console themselves from the regret of buying at All time high.