Who Is Ruling The Crypto Futures Race?

Bitcoin was trading at nearly $20,000 per unit, everyone wanted to jump into the cryptocurrency market and CME and Cboe Global Markets had just announced the launch of bitcoin futures. It was the end of 2017 and the excitement seemed eternal. But most people were wrong.

Once crypto futures were launched on CME and Cboe, Bitcoin prices went down the road very quickly, falling from historic highs to nearly $7,000. Some analysts believe this movement was a mere natural reaction to the futures presentation, which was monitored by the US regulator.

CME and Cboe were not the only ones profiting from this new category of futures. The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) also presented its crypto futures at the beginning of 2018.

No. That’s simply not all names on the list. There is actually one more to add: Nasdaq. While the stock index hasn’t included cryptocurrency futures for trading, it has been providing technology services to at least four crypto exchanges.

SBI Holdings reported on Monday an agreement between its trading company SBI Japannext and Nasdaq related to cryptocurrency exchange.

SBI Virtual Currencies aims to offer the narrowest spreads out there by relying on Nasdaq’s matching system technology. Nasdaq has been working with SBI Japannext since 2012.

Wait a second! That’s not all Nasdaq has to offer... The New York based company has also provided Gemini - the crypto exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins - with Nasdaq Smarts, which basically serves to monitor unusual trading activity on platforms.

Plans for the future?

Nasdaq is not trying to sell technology as a new focus for its business, but rather as a way to monetize valuable time and experience while experts work on the launch of bitcoin futures.

According to sources related to the matter, Nasdaq could introduce cryptocurrency futures by the second half of this year.

FortFS