It'll be a cash settled product, meaning that it's even more speculative. There won't be any actual BTC traded. The CME has been posting an average price for BTC for awhile now. That was the first step. Once that price got accepted they could create a product that trades around that price, enter the futures contract.

Futures are confusing for a lot of enthusiasts and traders alike and historically have been used as just a way to hedge off other trades. This is big moment for BTC in terms of mainstream acceptance, but it is also a big moment in terms of introducing a whole new group of players to the space.

It will be interesting. In the meantime, I couldn't speculate what will happen to the price of BTC because of futures; aside from the obvious analogs, BTC is not a tulip.

Take care! Thanks for sharing the article!