According to CNBC and the WSJ, Nasdaq has plans to launch bitcoin futures as early as the second quarter of 2018. Nasdaq isn't the only market maker looking to launch a product around BTC, they will be up against fierce competition by the CBOE and the CME who have also announced plans to launch futures tied to Bitcoin.
A Nasdaq spokesperson said that the exchange's futures would differentiate from CBOE and CME because Nasdaq would base its price off of 50 bitcoin sources from around the world, while CBOE is currently using one and the CME is using four.
Although I don't feel like Nasdaq's approach is groundbreaking, I do believe because of their superior method and brand recognition it may put the other two firms at a disadvantage.
One issue facing bitcoin products is the issue of what happens if there is a "hard fork," i.e. what happens if bitcoin splits into competing products. Nasdaq said that both sides of the fork would go in the index for one day, and after that the value of the other fork would be reinvested in bitcoin and the value of the index would be adjusted.
This is pretty much what modern day stock markets do. They create new products which peg to certain events. This is pretty much the same phenomenon which caused the great housing bubble crash in 2008. Its a slippery slope I say!
So, for example, if bitcoin at $11,000 split into two forks of $9,000 and $2.000, both would remain in the index for a day, and then the $2,000 fork would be reinvested in the $9,000 bitcoin and the index would be adjusted.
Bitcoin broke above $11,000 for the first time Wednesday and is up more than 1,000 percent in 2017.The Wall Street Journal first reported the Nasdaq futures launch. The Journal also reported that Cantor Fitzgerald is working to launch a bitcoin derivative next year.
Bitcoin started a whole new industry consisting of a whole array of different cryptocurrencies. Regardless of what happens to Bitcoin, the industry is here to stay. There's no putting the genie back in the lamp. Futures and derivitives may ultimately destroy Bitcoin but original believers of Bitcoin, people who appreciated it as an alternative to modern banking will certainly find another more suitable currency to invest their money into that more closely follows Satoshi Nakamoto's vision of a trustless decentralized economy.
What do you guys think about this news? Is Nasdaq getting involved a good thing for Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency industry?
Please leave thoughts and feedback below.
Source:
Nasdaq to launch bitcoin futures in the second half of the year, officials say - CNBC