Friday, March 29

Tag: CME Group

Bitcoin Fever Exposes Crypto-Market Frailties
News

Bitcoin Fever Exposes Crypto-Market Frailties

As bitcoin raced to another record high on Tuesday, one of the biggest providers of digital currency wallets, Coinbase, went down under the weight of traffic, leaving many of its more than 10 million customers unable to access their funds. At the same time, Bitfinex, the world’s biggest bitcoin exchange by trading volume, said it was under a heavy denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, meaning its servers had been intentionally flooded with junk online requests, taking down its website and crippling its services. The latest outages show how the market infrastructure for an immature and volatile instrument that millions of investors have piled into may be ill-equipped to cope with sudden shifts in demand, which is worrying some investors. During a particularly volatile period of trading ...
Bitcoin Blows Past $16,000, Alarm Bells Ring Louder
News

Bitcoin Blows Past $16,000, Alarm Bells Ring Louder

Bitcoin rocketed to a lifetime high well above $16,000 on Thursday after climbing some 67 percent over one week, intensifying the debate about whether the cryptocurrency is in a bubble about to burst. The largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange struggled to keep up with record traffic as the price surged, with an upcoming launch of the first bitcoin futures contract further fuelling investor interest. Proponents say bitcoin is a good medium of exchange and a way to store value, much like a precious metal. Those that buy bitcoin also argue it is preferable to traditional currencies because it is not subject to central bank manipulation. The supply of bitcoin will eventually be capped at 21 million, and some 16.7 million have already been released. But critics say that the price run-up is a b...
Bitcoin Surges Above $12,000 To Record High On Relentless Demand
BUSINESS

Bitcoin Surges Above $12,000 To Record High On Relentless Demand

Bitcoin extended its eye-popping rally on Wednesday, breaking above $12,000 to a record high despite questions about the cryptocurrency’s real value and worries about a dangerous bubble. Bitcoin received a boost after Friday’s announcement by the main U.S. derivatives regulator that it would allow CME Group Inc and CBOE Global Markets to list bitcoin futures contracts. The move opens the door to added regulation but also more mainstream adoption, as bitcoin futures and other derivatives would make it easier to trade the new asset class. Bitcoin’s meteoric ascent of over 10-fold from below $1,000 at the start of the year has drawn regulatory scrutiny around the world. Some high profile individuals such as Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz have said the cryptocurrency sho...
Bubble Trouble? Bitcoin Tops $11,000, But Fades After Sharp Rally
BUSINESS

Bubble Trouble? Bitcoin Tops $11,000, But Fades After Sharp Rally

Bitcoin zoomed past $11,000 to hit a record high for the sixth day in a row on Wednesday after gaining more than $1,000 in just 12 hours, stoking concerns that a rapidly swelling bubble could be set to burst in spectacular fashion. After soaring more than 1,000 percent since the start of the year, bitcoin rose as much as 15 percent on Wednesday, but by mid-afternoon in New York, the virtual currency was trading at $9,500, down 3.7 percent on the day on Luxembourg-based Bitstamp BTC=BTSP, one of the largest and most liquid cryptocurrency exchanges.  “As many seasoned traders know all too well, anything that rockets higher, tends to fall down faster when the time comes, and the time will come,” James Hughes, chief market analyst at FX broker AxiTrader, said. Bitcoin topped $10,000...
Bitcoin Shoots off the Roof, Hits All Time High
News

Bitcoin Shoots off the Roof, Hits All Time High

Bitcoin climbed to a new all-time high of $6,450 on Wednesday, boosted by bets the cryptocurrency could enter the financial mainstream after the world’s largest derivatives exchange operator said on Tuesday it would launch bitcoin futures. CME Group, the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, announced on Tuesday that it intends to launch bitcoin futures in the fourth quarter of 2017, pending all relevant regulatory review periods. Related Read Bitcoin Going Legit! CME to Launch Bitcoin Futures     Bitcoin has had a bumper year with a more than sixfold increase in price, and has more than doubled in price since mid-September alone. It was up 0.3 percent on Wednesday on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange.    ...
Bitcoin Going Legit! CME to Launch Bitcoin Futures
BUSINESS

Bitcoin Going Legit! CME to Launch Bitcoin Futures

CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, announced on Tuesday that it intends to launch bitcoin futures in the fourth quarter of 2017, pending all relevant regulatory review periods. The new contract will be cash-settled, based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate (BRR) which serves as a once-a-day reference rate of the U.S. dollar price of bitcoin. Bitcoin futures will be listed on and subject to the rules of CME. After this, more people will be able to start trading bitcoin and you can read this article to find out how you can do it yourself. "Given increasing client interest in the evolving cryptocurrency markets, we have decided to introduce a bitcoin futures contract," said Terry Duffy, CME Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "As the world...