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CME Takes Cautious Stance Toward Crypto-Futures Besides Bitcoin

CME Takes Cautious Stance Toward Crypto-Futures Besides Bitcoin

(Bloomberg) -- CME Group Inc. doesn’t plan to offer futures based on cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin any time soon, in contrast to rival Cboe Global Markets Inc.’s openness to the idea.

The world’s largest exchange owner introduced Bitcoin futures in December, a week after Cboe got into the market. According to CME CEO Terry Duffy, digital currency markets are polarizing and unpredictable enough that his company is going slowly.

“I’m not going to get over my skis on something that could be potentially damaging to the reputation of the company,” he said Thursday during an interview at Bloomberg’s headquarters in New York. “To say that you should just automatically go ahead and list others I think is a little irresponsible right now,” he added. “We need to learn more.”

CME Takes Cautious Stance Toward Crypto-Futures Besides Bitcoin

Cboe seems a bit more aggressive.

“You look at the entire crypto space and you look at what other products have the liquidity and the notional size, a derivative makes sense,” Chris Concannon, Cboe’s president and chief operating officer, said on Jan. 17. He gave a caveat: Cboe won’t introduce other crypto-derivatives until its futures exchange starts using the trading software acquired last year from Bats Global Markets. That upgrade is scheduled for Feb. 25.

Though Bitcoin has grabbed the bulk of the hype, there are about 1,500 other digital tokens listed on Coinmarketcap.com. Ethereum and Ripple have the second- and third-highest market capitalizations among digital currencies, $100 billion and $38 billion, respectively, trailing only Bitcoin’s $155 billion, according to Coinmarketcap.

Traders are using Cboe’s product more, even when accounting for the fact that CME’s contract represents five Bitcoins versus just one at Cboe. During the past five days, Cboe has seen about 7.5 times more volume, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

--With assistance from Brian Louis

To contact the reporter on this story: Annie Massa in New York at amassa12@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Baker at nbaker7@bloomberg.net, Kevin Miller

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.