By
Steve Muchoki
April 19th, 2024
The CME micro options for Bitcoin and Ether finally have gone live which will encourage investors with smaller wallets to participate in the crypto derivatives trading.
The CME Group has finally launched the micro options for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) and is now available for trading. The world’s leading derivatives marketplace has been in the crypto game for quite some time now.
This new offering seeks to encourage more retail participants and investors with a smaller wallet. As a result, investors can now trade the micro-sized Bitcoin futures and options on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).
This new product launched by the CME Group features contracts with one-tenth the value of BTC and ETH. On its official website, the company said that the offering will allow “market participants to efficiently hedge market-moving events with greater precision and flexibility”. Tim McCourt, CME Group Global Head of Equity and FX Products added:
“The launch of these micro-sized options builds on the significant growth and liquidity we have seen in our Micro Bitcoin and Micro Ether futures. Sized at one-tenth of their respective underlying tokens in size, these contracts will offer a wide range of market participants – from institutions to sophisticated, active, individual traders – greater flexibility and precision to manage their exposure to the top two cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.”
Furthermore, the Bitcoin and Ether options from CME will allow traders to take short and long-term positions through weekly and monthly options.
Partnering with Galaxy Digital
As per details, the options settlement will happen in liquid micro Bitcoin and micro Ether futures instead of physical crypto. But they will also have lower dollar premiums related to the contract sizes.
Furthermore, the CME Group has also partnered with Galaxy Digital which will act as a liquidity provider for the transactions. Galaxy Digital Managing Director, Global Co-head of Trading Robert Bogucki said:
“CME Group Micro Bitcoin and Micro Ether options are an important step in the development of a thriving marketplace for institutions and sophisticated investors who want crypto exposure in a regulated environment. The smaller contract sizes will give investors and traders greater flexibility in managing their exposure to the two biggest cryptocurrencies in the world, opening the market up to new participants. Galaxy Digital is excited to act as a liquidity provider for these options and other CME Group cryptocurrency products.”
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