HOOD - CME Group Eyes Bitcoin Trading Amid Surging Wall Street Demand (UPDATED) | Benzinga
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional details.
CME Group (NASDAQ:CME), the world’s largest futures exchange, is gearing up to introduce Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) trading, seizing the opportunity presented by the growing appetite for cryptocurrencies among Wall Street’s money managers.
What Happened: The Chicago-based CME has been engaging in discussions with traders interested in buying and selling bitcoin on a regulated platform, Financial Times reported on Thursday, quoting three insiders familiar with the negotiations.
This initiative, though not yet finalized, signals a significant step by major Wall Street firms into the realm of digital assets.
It follows the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's January approval of stock market funds that directly invest in bitcoin.
CME has not provided any comments on the matter.
Adding spot Bitcoin trading to CME’s offerings, which already include Bitcoin futures, would simplify the execution of basis trades for investors.
Basis trading, a strategy popular among professional Bitcoin traders and commonly used in the U.S. Treasury market, involves borrowing money to sell futures while buying the underlying asset, profiting from the price differences.
CME venues currently handle the majority of Treasury basis trades.
Bitcoin has garnered increasing support from some of the world’s largest ...