However, thought of as an alternative to gold as a store of value, bitcoin instead gained mainstream traction and popularity as people began speculating on its future value.
Easy access to courses on trading stocks and futures, as well as social media and Reddit forums, have given confidence to more retail investors to enter the crypto market.
Based on increasing client demand and robust growth in the bitcoin futures markets, especially from the retail trader, CME Group’s upcoming launch of Micro Bitcoin futures will add more granularity to trading and risk management strategies.
Given this dramatically reduced size, the initial margin requirements for a Micro Bitcoin contract – the minimum amount that a trader needs to post to buy or sell a contract – will drop by a factor of 50 and make Bitcoin futures trading available to accounts with a minimum of $5,000.
Interest from the financial industry looking at bitcoin as a long-term investment rather than a decentralized currency has been a primary driver in bitcoin’s recent robust price rise.
The increased interest from financial institutions has sparked a rally similar to the one seen in 2017, albeit with less volatility.
The difference from the 2017 rally to now, as Jack Bourjoudjian told OpenMarkets earlier this year, is large buy-in from institutional firms and the presence of an established futures contract.
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