By
Bhushan Akolkar
April 19th, 2024
The cryptocurrency market continued to swell on Thursday, as Ethereum price breaks above $400 for the second time this year.
Ethereum price reached a new all-time high above $400 barrier, currently trading at $400.84 nearly 10% from yesterday, according to the CoinMarketCap. At the press time, the total crypto market cap is $253 billion, the maximum value of all times.
Cryptocurrency Bitcoin Cash is also jumping against the dollar today, currently above 33% against the greenback to $1,588.10, according to the CoinMarketCap. The jump in price follows some positive news like cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp announced on Wednesday that it would be integrating Bitcoin Cash to its platform from December “in response to the demand.” Moreover, popular cryptocurrency wallet provider Bitwalla announced on Wednesday that it is allowing customers to hold Bitcoin Cash.
However, like always, this time it is just not Bitcoin that is contributing to the surge in overall market valuations as off lately, we have seen some strong performance from altcoins like Monero and Dash. However, one of the most important news of this hour is that the second most popular cryptocurrency ‘Ethereum’ is all set to enter derivatives market.
An unknown cryptocurrency exchange that is currently been referred by the name “Virtuoso” is said to offer Ethereum futures-contract according to the person who is familiar with this matter. The person also disclosed that one of the co-founders of the exchange will be Sunil Hirani who previously co-founded CDS exchange before selling it to Intercontinental Exchange Inc. in 2008 for nearly half-a-billion-dollars.
Unveiling further details, the person said that Virtuoso will be aimed specifically at corporations and institutional investors who have some exposure to Ether’s price and is likely to be overseen by U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The Ether futures- contracts are expected to go live by the first or second quarter and in addition, will offer non-deliverable forwards, swaps and forwards, etc. There is also a possibility that some of the contracts will deliver Ether to holders of the future-contract if held till expiry.
The meteoric growth of the overall cryptocurrency market in past one year, and specifically the growth of Bitcoin, has forced several big financial institutions to look inwards towards the world of virtual digital currencies. Just when Bitcoin is set to enter trading in futures market soon, the exchanges are now eyeing the second most valuable digital currency platform ‘Ethereum’. The Ethereum prices have already reacted to this news with the price of Ether crosses $400 for the second time this year.
After the announcement of Bitcoin futures contract by world’s largest derivates exchange – CME Group – a new wave of euphoria has gripped the markets as Bitcoin prices were subjected to an unprecedented bullish rally surging its price from $5000 to above $8000 in just past one month.
While Ethereum, which is also said to have solid fundamentals, was seen consolidating around $300 during the same time. However, occupying a prominent position in the cryptocurrency market, it could not be neglected much and if the latest news of Ethereum derivates catches more steam, we can similar rally in Ethereum as well.
In addition to Virtuoso, reports within the industry say that ‘Banca IMI’, a subsidiary of global banking giant Intesa Sanpaolo, is currently exploring options for Ethereum derivatives which can function through smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. Also, it now seems that with cryptocurrencies getting more and more mainstream, they are here to disrupt the centralized bond markets. A UK Startup Nivuara, in collaboration with JPMorgan, Moodys and other has unveiled the world’s first Ethereum Bond for LuxDeco – the UK based luxury goods dealer. The bond has been supervised by UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and has been given a go-ahead for further development.
Many believe that as the cryptocurrencies become more mainstream, introduction of smart contracts to the bond infrastructure can make these bonds available to a lot of businesses having smaller capital.