CME Launches Bitcoin Friday Futures for Retail Investors

According to PANews, CF Benchmarks CEO Sui Chung has highlighted the benefits of the recently launched Bitcoin Friday Futures (BFF) by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). The BFF contracts, introduced on September 30, are cash-settled and sized at 1/50th of a Bitcoin, with reduced margin requirements to make them accessible to retail investors. These contracts settle every Friday at 16:00 New York time and track the Bitcoin Reference Rate from CF Benchmarks. Chung emphasized that BFF futures offer several advantages for news traders, including low basis, low roll costs, and more targeted trading strategies. The shorter duration of these contracts minimizes the gap between futures and spot prices, ensuring lower premiums and enhancing profitability. Additionally, the expiration of these futures aligns with the daily net asset value calculation of U.S.-listed spot ETFs, boosting market liquidity and making the price discovery mechanism more efficient.