CME Group, the world’s largest derivatives market in volume, announced plans to list Ethereum options three days before Ethereum’s transition to proof-of work (PoW). While CME’s ether options product prepares for regulatory review, the company detailed that the options contract will be measured at 50 ether per contract, using the CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate.
CME Group Launches Ethereum Options
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange otherwise known as CME Group revealed the company’s intentions to list ethereum options contracts three days before The Merge on September 12, 2022. CME detailed that the new ether options join the firm’s bitcoin (BTC) options and micro-sized bitcoin and ether options contracts.
“These new contracts deliver one ether futures, sized at 50 ether per contract, and based on the CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate, which serves as a once-a-day reference rate of the U.S. dollar price of ether,” the derivatives marketplace said on Thursday. CME’s global head for equity and FX, Tim McCourt noted that the new ether option contracts will complement the existing range of crypto derivatives products.
” The launch of these options contracts builds upon the significant growth, deep liquidity and we have seen in Ether futures that have traded over 1.8 million contracts to-date,” McCourt stated in a statement. CME executive added
As we approach the highly anticipated Ethereum Merge next month, we continue to see market participants turn to CME Group to manage ether price risk. The new ether options offer clients more flexibility and precision to manage their ether exposure in advance of market-moving events.
CME Group joins a variety of exchanges that offer ethereum options contracts, including Okex, Bit.com and Deribit. In July there was $11. 38 billion in ether options volume with Deribit commanding $10. 86 billion out of all four exchanges that list ETH options. The market share of ether options open interest is also dominated by Deribit, in comparison to open interest figures associated with Huobi, Okex, and Bit.com.
In terms of bitcoin options, Deribit also outshines CME as CME Group is the second largest in terms of bitcoin options open interest with $441 million recorded on August 17. In the same fashion, CME is the third largest in terms of bitcoin options volume while Deribit takes the lead. Okex is able to capture slightly more volume in bitcoin options.
CME’s ether option rollout is being supported by TP ICAP Digital Assets, Akuna Capital and TP ICAP Digital Assets. TP ICAP Digital Assets was excited to support CME Group with the rollout its full-sized Ether Options contract,” Sam Newman, TP ICAP’s head for brokering, said during the announcement. Customers .”
eagerly awaited this larger-sized Ether option in conjunction with the popular Micro Ether option.
What do you think about CME Group offering ethereum options on September 12, 2022? Please let us know your thoughts on this topic in the comments below.
Jamie Redman
Jamie Redman, the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News, is a Florida-based financial journalist. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. Redman is passionate about Bitcoin, open-source codes, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 5,700 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.
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Ethereum Price Analysis: What’s Ahead for ETH After a 9% Weekly Dip?
Ethereum currently rests at a notable support region near $3.2K, with market participants closely observing the potential for a bullish rebound.
The Funding Rates metric offers valuable insights into the sentiment within the perpetual futures markets, helping to gauge the likelihood of a recovery.
Ethereum has seen consistent declines following its rejection at the $4K resistance level, indicating the dominance of sellers. Most recently, another sharp decline pushed the price toward a substantial support zone, defined by the 100-day moving average of $3.1K.
This dynamic support is critical as demand concentration near this region is expected to curb downward momentum, with a bullish rebound being plausible if buying interest emerges.
Currently, ETH is trapped between the 100-day MA ($3.1K) and the $3.5K resistance level, forming a tight consolidation range. A decisive move in either direction will likely determine the mid-term trend.
The 4-Hour Chart
On the 4-hour timeframe, Ethereum broke down from an ascending wedge pattern, a bearish structure that typically signals further declines. This breakdown triggered a swift sell-off, pushing the price toward a support zone defined by the 0.5-0.618 Fibonacci retracement levels.
This support zone has the potential to stabilize the price and possibly initiate a short-term bullish rebound. However, persistent bearish pressure could result in a break below this line, intensifying the downtrend.
If Ethereum breaches this critical support zone, it may trigger panic selling, further strengthening sellers’ dominance. Conversely, a sustained rebound could pave the way for a recovery toward the $3.5K resistance level.
Examining the chart, the recent market correction has coincided with a significant decline in funding rates. This shift suggests growing bearish sentiment among speculators, with many traders betting on further decreases in ETH’s price.
However, upon reaching the substantial support zone at $3K, the Funding Rates metric has started to show signs of recovery. A notable bullish spike in the metric suggests an influx of buying interest as market participants begin to open long positions in anticipation of a price rebound.
If this recovery in funding rates continues, it could indicate sustained demand and the potential for a bullish rebound from the $3K support. On the other hand, if the current recovery loses momentum or reverses, it would signal a return to bearish sentiment, paving the way for a deeper correction.
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Bitcoin Price Stalls at $94K, Ethereum Struggles to Maintain $3.2K (Weekend Watch)
Bitcoin’s volatile end of the week resulted in a price drop toward $91,000 and a subsequent surge to $96,000 before the asset calmed roughly in the middle.
The altcoins continue to struggle as SOL, ADA, and AVAX have charted 4% daily declines.
BTC Calms at $94K
It was nothing short of a volatile rollercoaster of a week for the primary cryptocurrency. It all started quite promising after the most recent MicroStrategy purchase on Monday, as the asset flew past $100,000 for the first time this year and kept climbing on Tuesday morning to over $102,000.
However, that’s when the landscape changed, and BTC slumped hard later that day, and on Wednesday, it slumped to $96,000. Although that was a painful correction on its own, bitcoin kept plunging in the following days to $91,200 (on Bitstamp) on Thursday, which became its lowest price tag in over a month.
The bulls managed to intervene at this point and pushed BTC north. More volatility ensued with several big moves that eventually pushed the asset to $96,000. However, it failed there and has lost almost two grand since then to trade at $94,000 as of now.
Its market cap has risen to just under $1.870 trillion on CG, while its dominance over the alts is up to 54.5%.
ADA, SOL Struggle
Most altcoins are in the red today as well. Ethereum slipped below $3,200 on Thursday, and even though it managed to recover some ground since that low is close to breaking below it now after a 2.3% daily decline. XRP is among the few alts with minor gains today.
In contrast, SOL, ADA, SUI, AVAX, and LINK continue to lose value, with losses of up to 4%. SOL is well below $190 now, while ADA is just over $0.9. More painful losses come from OM, ICP, and RNDR from the larger cap alts.
The total crypto market cap has lost some steam since yesterday and is down to $3.43 trillion on CG.
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Weekly Bitcoin, Ethereum ETF Insights: The Highs, Lows, and Key Takeaways
After struggling at the end of the year with numerous consecutive days of net outflows, the spot Bitcoin ETFs in the States finally registered some notable inflows on Friday.
The Ethereum counterparts sit in the opposite corner, as they have been mostly in the green since mid-December despite the FOMC aftermath on the entire market.
BTC ETFs Are Back
The latest FOMC meeting that took place in mid-December had a dramatic and immediate effect on US-based investors in terms of their Bitcoin-related activities. Following a superb streak after the presidential elections in which they poured billions of dollars within weeks into the regulated BTC financial vehicles, they did a 180-turn and started taking funds out.
December 19 was the worst day in terms of daily net outflows, with $671.9 million taken out. By January 2, seven out of the nine trading days were in the red, with a total withdrawn amount of roughly $2 billion.
This negative streak was finally broken on Friday as the spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $908.1 million in net inflows. Fidelity’s FBTC led the pack with $357 million, followed by BlackRock’s IBIT at $253.1 million and Ark Invest’s ARKB at $222.6 million. No fund recorded any outflows.
Friday’s numbers were so impressive that they managed to turn the whole week around. After the $415.1 million withdrawn on Monday and $242.3 million on Thursday, the week ended in the green with $256 million in net inflows, given the minor $5.3 million on Tuesday.
BTC’s price actions within the same week were quite volatile as the asset slumped hard on Monday amid the massive outflows to $91,300. However, it pumped to almost $99,000 later during the week as the inflows returned.
Ethereum ETFs’ Landscape
Unlike the BTC ETFs, the funds tracking Ethereum saw fewer days in the red after the aforementioned Fed meeting. Withdrawals were observed on December 19 and 20, but investors started to pour funds into them in the following days.
The past week was less positive, though, as net outflows dominated. $55.5 million was withdrawn on Monday and $77.5 million on Thursday. The $36 million in net inflows on Tuesday and $58.9 million on Friday couldn’t make up the difference, and the week ended with $36.1 million in the red.
ETH’s price tumbled hard on Monday as well but is 6.5% up on a weekly scale, which is more than double the increase for BTC. As of press time, Ethereum’s native token stands above $3,600.
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