Two prominent US financial institutions – Nasdaq and CME Group – have launched new Bitcoin-related products as institutional adoption of the top cryptocurrencies continues.
According to a message from August 27 announcementNasdaq has partnered with CF Benchmarks to file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list and trade Nasdaq Bitcoin Index Options (XBTX).
XBTX
The XBTX options allow investors to manage and hedge their BTC positions. These options track the underlying asset via the CME CF Benchmarks Bitcoin Real-Time Index (BRTI).
XBTX will offer European-style exercises and cash settlement. The final settlement value will be based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate – New York Variant (BRRNY) price at expiration divided by 100.
Nasdaq Vice President and Head of Exchange Business Management Greg Ferrari emphasized that the partnership combines the innovative crypto space with the reliability of traditional securities markets. He emphasized that this move would be an important milestone in the growth of the digital assets market.
Sui Chung, CEO of CF Benchmarks, noted that these regulated crypto derivatives will allow investors to gain more nuanced exposure to Bitcoin, complementing the market’s popular spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
BFF
In a related development, so will CME Group, the world’s largest futures exchange launch Bitcoin Friday futures (BFF) on September 30, 2024, aimed at retail investors.
Each BFF contract represents one fiftieth of a BTC and provides a cost-effective and accessible way to trade the most important digital assets. Based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate New York Variant, these contracts expire every Friday at 4:00 PM ET.
Giovanni Vicioso, CME Group’s Global Head of crypto Products, explained that the weekly expiring, smaller contracts will allow investors, from institutions to active retailers, to fine-tune their exposure to bitcoin on a regulated exchange.
He added:
“By settling on the BRRNY, the benchmark used by leading spot bitcoin ETFs, traders will also benefit from its growing liquidity and ability to more efficiently capture market movements during US hours.”
CME has benefited from renewed institutional interest in Bitcoin, briefly surpassing Binance as the world’s largest Bitcoin futures market earlier this year.