According to CME Group market data, a total of 388 Ether futures contracts exchanged hands on the first day of trading.
The second digital asset by market capitalization Ethereum is now exposed to institutional investors through regulated Ether Futures on the Chicago Mercantile Group. Notably, Ether Futures recorded a whopping $30 million in traded volume on its CME debut.“As institutional demand for transparent, exchange-listed crypto derivatives continues to increase, we are pleased to launch our new Ether futures contract,” said Tim McCourt, CME Group Global Head of Equity Index and Alternative Investment Products.Notably, CME Group set each Ether Futures contract with 50 units of Ethereum. Besides, the exchange further set the minimum contracts to be traded at five, hence a value of approximately $450K at an Ether market price of $1805.The Ether Futures further opens the Ethereum ecosystem for both institutional and retail investors ahead of the ongoing heightened volatility.According to CME Group market data, a total of 388 ether futures contracts exchanged hands on the first day, February 8. Out of that, approximately 303 of them were used to speculate on Ethereum’s February market price. Notably, 84 Ether futures contracts are set to expire in March, and one contract is set to expire in April.Ether Futures on CME Group Bigger PictureEthereum now will have similar privileges enjoyed by Bitcoin through the futures contracts market mostly accessed by institutional investors. Apparently, the introduction of Ether Futures somehow guarantees institutional investors of stabilized volatility and a chance to plan ahead of their investments. All in all, the introduction of Ether Futures is a huge milestone for the entire crypto market industry as it stamps on its existence.“The launch of CME Ether futures is an exciting addition to the digital assets ecosystem as it evidences the ongoing maturation of the asset class as a whole,” said Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale Investments. “At Grayscale Investments, we’ve seen enormous growth in investor interest for Ethereum and we’re excited to see the growing list of financial product offerings expanding access to digital currencies.”Ethereum has seen its market price rally in the past few days, particularly a few days leading to the Ether Futures launch on CME Group. Market data provided by CoinGecko indicates the asset has jumped approximately 42%, 32%, and 18% in the past one month, two weeks, and seven days respectively. Moreover, Ethereum managed to rally approximately 688% last year despite the adverse effects of the pandemic.The Ethereum ecosystem, however, is experiencing a chock in throughput due to increased transaction fees. Although Eth 2.0 is underway in progress, huge competition from the Binance Smart Chain may eat up a significant portion of its market share.DApps developers are migrating to the Binance ecosystem that is not only scalable but also interoperable with the Ethereum blockchain. As a result, the Binance ecosystem native coin BNB has rallied astronomically to trade around $140 at the time of writing.
