"Bitcoin had fallen over the weekend after ending last week at $15,644, 43 percent higher over the five days. A month ago, it was less than $8,000.one of the world’s biggest regulated exchanges, began offering futures contracts at 6 p.m. in New York, capping a wild year for the digital currency that has captured imaginations and investment around the world, propelled by a 15-fold gain."
"The futures contracts may open the door to greater inflows of institutional money, while also making it easier to bet on bitcoin’s decline. The entrance of regulated exchanges enables professional investors who have been unwilling to do business on the unregulated platforms where bitcoin currently trades to place bets on bitcoin’s price."