The
Chicago
Mercantile
Exchange
(CME)
is
gearing
up
to
introduce
spot
Bitcoin
trading,
responding
to
the
growing
demand
for
the
leading
digital
asset
on
Wall
Street,
the
Financial
Times
reported
on
May
16.
CME
is
the
world’s
largest
futures
BTC
trading
medium
and
has
been
in
talks
with
crypto
traders
to
establish
a
regulated
marketplace
for
spot
BTC
trading.
The
platform
is
anticipated
to
operate
through
EBS,
a
Swiss
currency
trading
platform
known
for
its
strict
regulations
on
crypto
asset
trading.
The
introduction
of
spot
trading
for
BTC
on
CME
would
allow
traders
to
participate
in
basis
trades.
This
trading
strategy
aims
to
profit
from
the
small
price
differences
present
on
the
futures
contracts
and
the
underlying
spot
BTC.
While
details
of
the
trading
platform
are
yet
to
be
finalized,
CME’s
potential
entry
emphasizes
the
continued
interest
of
major
Wall
Street
players
in
the
crypto
sector.
This
development
follows
the
SEC’s
approval
of
Spot
Bitcoin
exchange-traded
funds
(ETFs)
in
January,
signaling
the
increasing
acceptance
and
integration
of
digital
assets
into
traditional
financial
markets.
Recent
SEC
filings
from
various
Wall
Street
financial
institutions,
such
as
Morgan
Stanley
and
Millennium
Management,
reveal
that
many
of
these
firms
have
exposure
to
crypto-related
investment
products.
Vetle
Lunde,
a
senior
analyst
at
K33
Research
said.
“According
to
13F
reporting,
937
professional
firms
were
invested
in
U.S.
spot
ETFs
as
of
March
31.
In
comparison,
gold
ETFs
had
95
professional
firms
invested
in
their
first
quarter
(Bitwise).
Retail
owns
a
majority
of
the
float.
Professional
investors
held
exposure
of
$11.06bn
by
the
end
of
Q1,
representing
18.7%
of
the
BTC
ETF
AUM.”
Meanwhile,
CME’s
entry
into
spot
Bitcoin
trading
could
pose
significant
competition
for
Binance,
the
largest
crypto
exchange
by
trading
volume,
which
currently
faces
regulatory
scrutiny
worldwide.
Binance
had
been
the
top
Bitcoin
futures
platform
globally
prior
to
CME’s
surge
in
activity.
According
to
Kaiko
data,
Binance
accounts
for
56%
of
BTC
spot
trading,
followed
by
Coinbase
and
Bybit
at
10.1%
and
10.5%,
respectively.
Mentioned
in
this
article
Go to Source
Author: Oluwapelumi Adejumo
