CME launches small Bitcoin ‘Friday Futures’ to attract retail investors

CME Group is set to launch a new Bitcoin futures contract called Bitcoin Friday futures on September 30 following regulatory approval.

These smaller sized contracts are designed to attract retail investors who may find the current quotes or Bitcoin (BTC) price too high and expensive.

Bitcoin Friday Futures — or BFF contracts — priced at one-fiftieth of Bitcoin will be settled in cash, meaning they will not be settled in crypto. According to a press release, they will expire every Friday, giving investors a more accessible and flexible option to manage their Bitcoin exposure.

BFF contracts will be listed every Thursday for trading on the following Friday, allowing participants to trade up to the two closest Fridays at any given time. The new product aims to help investors mitigate weekend price volatility by keeping a close eye on Bitcoin’s spot price.

Nasdaq announced plans to list Bitcoin index options trading that will track the price of Bitcoin as represented by the CME CF Bitcoin Real-Time index on August 27.

Bitcoin contracts

Giovanni Vicioso, Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products at CME Group, emphasized that these contracts allow institutional and retail investors to fine-tune their Bitcoin positions on a regulated exchange.

The contracts will be executed on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate New York Variant with the ticker symbol ‘BRRNY’, a benchmark also used by spot Bitcoin ETFs, thereby increasing liquidity and market efficiency during US trading hours.

“By settling on BRRNY, the benchmark used by leading spot bitcoin ETFs, investors will also benefit from increased liquidity and the ability to more efficiently capture market movements during US hours.”

Giovanni Vicioso.

Interactive Brokers, Plus500 and Webull have all backed the launch, highlighting the product’s flexibility, affordability and appeal to a wide range of investors, mostly retail investors.

This launch is part of CME Group’s ongoing efforts to expand its cryptocurrency derivatives offerings following the success of its existing Bitcoin futures and Micro Bitcoin futures products.

The SEC’s approval of spot Bitcoin ETF trading earlier this year has led many major financial institutions to apply for their own spot Bitcoin ETFs.