International derivatives marketplace CME Group today announced that its Bitcoin Friday futures (BFF) have launched and are available for trading.
A total of 31,498 contracts traded across two different contract weeks. The first trade, a block, took place on Sunday, September 29 and was executed by Galaxy and Marex.
“With more than 31,000 contracts traded on day one, Bitcoin Friday futures have become our most successful crypto futures launch ever,” said Giovanni Vicioso, Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products at CME Group. “We are pleased to see such early customer interest and support for these new contracts, both on screen and through the block market. The smaller size of these contracts, along with a weekly Friday expiry, will provide investors with not only a more accessible way to access the bitcoin market, but will also allow them to more effectively manage their bitcoin exposure – all on a regulated exchange.”
Bitcoin Friday futures are sized at one-fiftieth of one bitcoin and cash-settled to the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate New York Variant (BRRNY) at 4:00 p.m. New York time every Friday. A new BFF contract is listed every Thursday at 6:00 p.m. New York time for a Friday trade date, with market participants able to trade the nearest two Fridays at any given point.
