The world of futures trading has exploded over recent years. The advent of ETF and ETN products has added tremendous liquidity to many futures products which are the basis for the instruments that are now available via standard equity trading accounts.
In the 1980s and 1990s, members owned futures exchanges. Purchasing a seat on the COMEX, NYMEX, CBOT, or many of the other member exchanges provided for not only trading privileges and lower fees, but an ownership stake in the market. As technological costs skyrockets, taking the exchanges public created economies of scale when it