Jeff Sprecher, the owner of New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and also some of the largest futures markets across the world, said this week that he could possibly regret not launching the Bitcoin futures. Speaking at a Goldman Sachs sponsored investors conference in New York on Tuesday, Sprecher, the CEO of Intercontinental Exchange Inc., said, “We may be stupid for not being first on that.”
When presented with questions surrounding the instrument’s adoption on the exchange, he noted: “I don’t have the answers, I wish I knew.” He echoed this stance cautioning: “I don’t know what to make of cryptocurrencies,” he admited.
The statement came as one of NYSE’s competitors in the US market, Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) was poised to launch its own Bitcoin futures this Sunday. CME Group also made the decision to introduce its own Bitcoin futures offering on its exchange platform later this month on December 18. Also, the US’ second largest exchange, NASDAQ is considering supporting Bitcoin futures in mid-2018.
Many are also contemplating the introduction of Bitcoin derivatives after the initiative taken by the US market players. Instead of the meteoric rise of Bitcoin, many experienced investors are refraining from cryptocurrencies due to the lack of any regulation. However, the introduction of the Bitcoin futures is considered as the stepping stone for legitimizing the currency, and in the near future, it may be considered as an everyday investment.
Mr. Sprecher was also very skeptic about the current market situation of cryptocurrencies. He also clarified this concern, noting: “We didn’t think it was obvious to rush out a product and be first and settle against an index on a lot of exchanges that are not particularly transparent.”
Mr. Sprecher also questioned the existence of the natural Bitcoin future sellers or the investors who short the contract, as the market is dominated by the Chinese Bitcoin mining companies hoarding the token and the algorithmic traders.
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