Back to Bitcoin: CBOE Re-enters the Cryptocurrency Space

The skyrocketing demand among institutions towards BTC seems to have changed CBOE’s approach. Two years after closing its Bitcoin futures platform, the CEO of the options exchange indicated that his organization plans to develop new initiatives focusing on various BTC-related products. 

• The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), among the largest options exchanges in the US, was the first regulated entity to launch BTC futures in December 2017 – amid the parabolic price increase that drove the asset to near $20,000. 
• However, the organization had a change of heart just 15 months later – following the year-long bear market that saw bitcoin drop to $4,000.  
• At the time, CBOE officials said that they are assessing their crypto approach, discontinued adding new futures contracts, while the last ones expired in June 2019. 
• Fast-forward two years later, and CBOE has made yet another U-turn. During a recent phone interview with Bloomberg, the Chief Executive Officer, Ed Tilly, indicated that his organization plans to return to the BTC scene. 

• “We’re still interested in the space, we haven’t given up on it. We’re keen on building out the entire platform. There’s a lot of demand from retail and institution, and we need to be there.”  

• CBOE made its first pro-crypto move in nearly two years in December 2020 when it signed an agreement with CoinRoutes to “create potential derived data and analytics products.”  
• Previously, CBOE also made a few unsuccessful attempts in the Bitcoin ETF sphere alongside VanEck. Tilly commented on VanEck’s latest BTC ETF applications, which the SEC is currently reviewing, saying that “we’re very keen to move along approval for the VanEck ETF.”