Breaking News
Get 45% Off 0
🚨 Don’t miss your updated list of AI-picked stocks for this month
Pick Stocks with AI

Bitcoin Skyrockets; Will ETFs Follow Futures?

By Zacks Investment ResearchStock MarketsDec 06, 2017 06:15AM ET
www.investing.com/analysis/bitcoin-skyrockets-will-etfs-follow-futures-200271140
Bitcoin Skyrockets; Will ETFs Follow Futures?
By Zacks Investment Research   |  Dec 06, 2017 06:15AM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This article has already been saved in your Saved Items
 
 
NVDA
+3.87%
Add to/Remove from Watchlist
Add to Watchlist
Add Position

Position added successfully to:

Please name your holdings portfolio
 
AMD
+0.35%
Add to/Remove from Watchlist
Add to Watchlist
Add Position

Position added successfully to:

Please name your holdings portfolio
 
CME
+1.57%
Add to/Remove from Watchlist
Add to Watchlist
Add Position

Position added successfully to:

Please name your holdings portfolio
 
BTC/USD
-0.56%
Add to/Remove from Watchlist
Add to Watchlist
Add Position

Position added successfully to:

Please name your holdings portfolio
 

Bitcoin skyrocketed to another new record high above $13,000 today. It is now up more than 1,200% this year while its market cap has risen to over $229 billion.

The cryptocurrency has been surging of late thanks mainly to optimism generated by plans for bitcoin futures. Last week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) granted regulatory approval for listing of bitcoin futures on two of the world’s largest futures exchanges.

The CBOE announced it would begin trading bitcoin futures on December 10. The CME would launch bitcoin futures contracts on December 18.

Nasdaq has also joined the race and is planning to launch bitcoin futures as early as the second quarter of 2018.

Launch of futures would be a major step in the cryptocurrency becoming mainstream, as derivatives will provide much needed liquidity and also legitimacy to it.

Many traders and investors have avoided bitcoin due to its extreme volatility. Derivatives will provide them an easy way to bet on the price of cryptocurrency, both up and down, as well as hedge their exposure.

Further, many institutional investors are prohibited from investing in bitcoin directly and derivatives would provide them a way to invest in it.

Traders love volatility and with stock market volatility so low over the past few months, many of them may embrace bitcoin to make (or lose) money on its wild price swings.

Bitcoin price may get further boost as it becomes mainstream. On the other hand, it will also provide an opportunity to skeptics of bitcoin to short it as making negative bets on it are not easily possible as of now.

Futures are also expected to pave the way for approval of bitcoin ETFs. ETFs would provide investors a convenient way to get exposure to bitcoin.

Earlier this year, the SEC had rejected bitcoin ETF applications including one proposed by Winklevoss twins but they are now reviewing the decision again.

There were some filing for ETFs that track bitcoin derivatives. However, they were withdrawn since the SEC does not review filing for a fund where the underlying instruments are not yet available.

Launch of futures would definitely increase the chances of a bitcoin ETF.

Four sponsors have recently filed for blockchain technology ETFs. Blockchain is the technology behind bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Even skeptics of bitcoin believe in the massive potential of this technology.

Investors interested in bitcoin should be aware of the risks. Unlike real currencies, cryptocurrencies have no central bank backing. They are illiquid and trading is expensive.

Many central banks have warned investors about risks of investing in bitcoin. Some have taken action against cryptocurrency exchanges and initial coin offerings.

Further, there have been many instances of hackers stealing bitcoins.

To learn more, please watch the short video above.

Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox?

Zacks’ free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Get it free >>



Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD): Free Stock Analysis Report

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA): Free Stock Analysis Report

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME): Free Stock Analysis Report

CBOE Holdings, Inc. (CBOE): Free Stock Analysis Report

Original post

Zacks Investment Research

Bitcoin Skyrockets; Will ETFs Follow Futures?
 

Related Articles

Bitcoin Skyrockets; Will ETFs Follow Futures?

Add a Comment

Comment Guidelines

We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:  

  •            Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.

  •           Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed. 

  •           Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.

  • Use standard writing style. Include punctuation and upper and lower cases. Comments that are written in all caps and contain excessive use of symbols will be removed.
  • NOTE: Spam and/or promotional messages and comments containing links will be removed. Phone numbers, email addresses, links to personal or business websites, Skype/Telegram/WhatsApp etc. addresses (including links to groups) will also be removed; self-promotional material or business-related solicitations or PR (ie, contact me for signals/advice etc.), and/or any other comment that contains personal contact specifcs or advertising will be removed as well. In addition, any of the above-mentioned violations may result in suspension of your account.
  • Doxxing. We do not allow any sharing of private or personal contact or other information about any individual or organization. This will result in immediate suspension of the commentor and his or her account.
  • Don’t monopolize the conversation. We appreciate passion and conviction, but we also strongly believe in giving everyone a chance to air their point of view. Therefore, in addition to civil interaction, we expect commenters to offer their opinions succinctly and thoughtfully, but not so repeatedly that others are annoyed or offended. If we receive complaints about individuals who take over a thread or forum, we reserve the right to ban them from the site, without recourse.
  • Only English comments will be allowed.
  • Any comment you publish, together with your investing.com profile, will be public on investing.com and may be indexed and available through third party search engines, such as Google.

Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.

Write your thoughts here
 
Are you sure you want to delete this chart?
 
Post
Post also to:
 
Replace the attached chart with a new chart ?
1000
Your ability to comment is currently suspended due to negative user reports. Your status will be reviewed by our moderators.
Please wait a minute before you try to comment again.
Thanks for your comment. Please note that all comments are pending until approved by our moderators. It may therefore take some time before it appears on our website.
 
Are you sure you want to delete this chart?
 
Post
 
Replace the attached chart with a new chart ?
1000
Your ability to comment is currently suspended due to negative user reports. Your status will be reviewed by our moderators.
Please wait a minute before you try to comment again.
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block

Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?

By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.

%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List

Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.

Report this comment

I feel that this comment is:

Comment flagged

Thank You!

Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Continue with Apple
Continue with Google
or
Sign up with Email