The leading CME group announced on Nov 02 that it’s launching Ethereum Futures by Dec 06 (still subject to regulatory approval), marking it the first time a cryptocurrency is about to get “micro futures” in a lesser denomination than its typical base unit. In this case, Ether itself. The micro Ethereum Futures would be sized at 1/10 of one Ether, according to the official release. This would allow market participants of various sizes and risk appetites to benefit from the leading smart contracts platform in the world.
Meet the newest addition to the CME Cryptocurrency product line-up ‒ Micro Ether futures are arriving on December 6. Find out more: https://t.co/1J2oX55Uc3 pic.twitter.com/HbcK3rpaqU
CME pitches the benefits for the micro Ethereum Futures product as follows: traders would be able to attain precision in their strategies and will be able to scale their trading positions up or down incrementally. This would also allow futures traders to be more efficient and save on “potential margin offsets”. The upcoming launch shows that the institutional appetite for Etheruem is breaching new all-time highs.
The reason for launching Ethereum Futures was described by CME as “The ETH notional value has increased from $1.7K on the date that it launched to nearly $3.6K on October 11, 2021. The amount of capital needed to access the futures market has significantly increased. To make our market more accessible to risk managers and other traders, CME Group will launch the Micro Ether futures contract, which is 1/500 the size of the Ether futures contract (i.e. 1/10 of one ether versus fifty ether for Ether futures (ETH)“
Ether price has responded favorably to the news with the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency now changing hands at $4545 and establishing a new all-time high. It’s now up around 5.1% in the past 24 hours and appears to be in the price discovery mode after a long consolidation. The stars are finally aligning up for Ethereum as fundamentals get better over time and the infrastructure is developed further.
