According to a press release shared by PR Newswire, CME Group, the world's leading market derivatives platform, has announced that, in the very near future, it will be launching Micro Bitcoin futures contracts.
The named launch date is May 3, with about a month to go. At the moment, Micro Bitcoin futures are pending review by regulators.
Micro BTC futures for institutions and retail investors
The new BTC futures contracts will be as small as one-tenth the size of one Bitcoin. It will be available not only to financial institutions but also to individual traders. In the meantime, the new Bitcoin-based product will retain all the features of regular BTC futures traded on CME.
CME was the first venue (along with CBOE) to roll out Bitcoin futures back in December 2017 to open the gateway for financial institutions into the world of crypto.
High demand for smaller BTC futures
Now, a high-profile CME representative stated that there is a high demand for smaller Bitcoin contracts to be traded, so they are responding to that thirst among multiple market participants.
Aside from standard Bitcoin futures, CME has recently launched similar contracts based on Ether.
Up to now, 13,800 BTC futures (equal to 69,000 Bitcoins) have traded on the platform every day. Since Feb. 8, when Ethereum futures rolled out, a total of 767 ETH contracts have changed hands on CME.
Gamza Khanzadaev
Alex Dovbnya
