The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group, a leading United States derivatives exchange, has launched the much-anticipated Ethereum futures contracts on Sunday after the initial announcement late last year.
The derivatives exchange announced on Twitter that ETH futures went live at 6 pm (Eastern Time) on Sunday “for a first trade date of Feb. 8.”
Kicking off this Sunday evening: Ether futures start trading at 6:00 p.m. ET for a first trade date of Feb. 8. https://t.co/vc2hkZf9ql
— CME Group (@CMEGroup) February 7, 2021
As derivatives are a significant financial product for any asset, we have seen its impact on Bitcoin. Cboe launched the first Bitcoin futures in the United States in December 2017, followed by CME Group. Then, Bitcoin toughed the iconic $20,000 previous peak before plummeting heavily. The cryptocurrency is now peaking at around $40,000.
Many institutions have invested heavily in Bitcoin in recent years. Now with Ethereum derivatives in the market, it is to be seen if a second digital currency can gain the trust of the institutions, despite many of its technical flaws.