It was the Chicago Stock Exchange that took the first step. After a crazy 2017 for bitcoin - whose value has been multiplied by 16 in one year - the Chicago Board Option Exchange (CBOE) inaugurated the first futures market for the famous dematerialized currency, Sunday, December 10, just before 9 pm
In just three hours, just over 1,000 transactions were made on this new-style stock market. Bottom line: Investors estimate that bitcoin will be worth $ 18,220 in early 2018 (up from $ 16,000 on December 11), according to data provided by the CBOE.
But the recognition is not there yet: the Chicago Stock Exchange does not go so far as to exchange bitcoins directly for dollars. This is not a proper foreign exchange market.
A very select club
Investors exchange dollar contracts indexed to the value of the paperless currency at a given time (in a week, a month). This is a kind of bet on the future: the buyer pays the seller the price (in dollars) of what he believes is the value of the bitcoin at maturity. If the price is finally higher, it makes a profit, while it loses money if the evolution of the bitcoin is lower than the fixed price.
