CME Group Announces the Plan to Launch Ether/Bitcoin Ratio Futures at the End of July

Leading derivatives marketplace CME Group announced in a press release that it plans to launch Ether/Bitcoin Ratio futures on July 31, pending regulatory review.

"Historically, ether and bitcoin have been highly correlated; however, as the two assets have grown over time, market dynamics may affect the performance of one more than the other, creating relative value trading opportunities," said Giovanni Vicioso, CME Group Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products. "With the addition of Ether/Bitcoin Ratio futures, investors will be able to capture ether and bitcoin exposure in a single trade, without needing to take a directional view. This new contract will help create opportunities for a broad array of clients looking to hedge positions or execute other trading strategies, all in an efficient, cost-effective manner."

The Ether/Bitcoin Ratio futures will be cash-settled to the value of CME Group Ether futures final settlement price, divided by the corresponding CME Group Bitcoin futures final settlement price. The new contract will follow the same listing cycle as CME Group Bitcoin futures and Ether futures contracts.

"The launch of CME Group Ether/Bitcoin Ratio futures further expands the marketplace for institutions and sophisticated investors who want digital asset exposure in a regulated environment," said Jason Urban, Global Head of Trading at Galaxy. "We're excited to support this product, which will appeal to investors looking to take advantage of changes between the two biggest digital assets by market capitalization. We commend CME Group's ongoing commitment to developing innovative offerings essential to building an enduring ecosystem for this asset class."

"The launch of Ether/Bitcoin Ratio futures completes the currency triangle allowing market makers such as XBTO the ability to arbitrage synthetically, for the first time, all three futures legs: the BTC/USD and ETH/USD dollar legs, and the ETH/BTC cross," said Paul Eisma, Head of Options Trading at XBTO. "CME Group's innovative, regulated product will help increase volumes, reduce spreads, and give institutional crypto market participants a vehicle to express relative value between BTC and ETH."

"This new ETH/BTC cross-cryptocurrency contract from CME Group should allow investors more flexibility when hedging positions in non-dollar offshore markets," said Brooks Dudley of Marex Capital Markets, Inc. "This marks another important advancement for CFTC-regulated cryptocurrency derivatives."

Source: CME Group