On Tuesday, the CME Group, the world’s largest derivatives operator, said it would introduce bitcoin futures contracts. The introduction of such a product could bring more institutional investors into the market. Analysts believe this has been boosting the price.
CME said its bitcoin futures contract would be cash-settled and based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate (BRR), launched in November last year with London-based online trading platform Crypto Facilities.
The digital currency’s price has risen almost 600 percent since the beginning of the year. Bitcoin was trading at $6,944.90 at 2:49 a.m. ET, according to CoinDesk.
