Europe prepares for first Bitcoin futures launch amid US ETF stalemate

Europe’s first-ever Bitcoin (BTC) futures will launch subsequent month on the continent’s largest derivatives market, Eurex, an announcement confirms.

In a press launch issued on Tuesday, digital asset-backed securities supplier ETC Group stated that its Bitcoin ETN Futures product will start buying and selling on Sept. 13.

Europe highlights “rising institutional demand”

ETC Group already operates the world’s first centrally cleared Bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP), often known as BTCetc Bodily Bitcoin (BTCE).

Launched in June 2020 on Deutsche Boerse, there at the moment are a number of crypto ETPs from the agency, three of which can even start buying and selling on the Wiener Boerse — Vienna’s inventory trade — sooner or later, Cointelegraph reported.

The strikes come amid elevated investor demand for institutional merchandise tied to Bitcoin and altcoins, with Europe historically offering a friendlier surroundings than the USA, which is dragging its heels over approval of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Eurex will thus host the primary European futures contract primarily based on a crypto ETP beginning subsequent month.

“Given the rising institutional demand for safe publicity to Bitcoin, we’re delighted to start itemizing these Bitcoin ETN futures on our regulated buying and selling and clearing infrastructure at Eurex,” Eurex government board member Randolf Roth commented. 

“This transfer will enable a larger variety of market individuals to commerce and hedge Bitcoin, with this new future being handled in the identical approach as some other derivatives contract by way of central clearing, netting, and danger administration.”

Bitcoin traded at $49,700 on the time of writing, down round 1% on the day after briefly passing the $50,000 mark.

Blended institutional sentiment lingers

As Cointelegraph famous, institutional investor sentiment is slowly returning to favor crypto portfolio publicity.

Associated: Professional merchants are mildly skeptical about Bitcoin’s current return to $50K

That stated, institutional devices such because the Grayscale Bitcoin Belief (GBTC) have lagged behind surging spot costs, signaling that uptake isn’t but again at bull market ranges seen earlier than Bitcoin’s all-time highs in April.

The GBTC premium — the extra value of the Belief’s shares in comparison with BTC’s spot value — continues to hover in adverse territory, equating to the shares buying and selling at a reduction.