Share this article
SEC Has Removed 'Stumbling Block' for Ether Futures, Says Cboe
The doors may be open for Cboe to launch an ether futures product, following a recent comment from the SEC that the cryptocurrency is not a security.
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 8:03 a.m. Published Jun 15, 2018, 3:16 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Cboe Global Markets may now be close to launching an ether futures product, following a recent comment from a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official indicating that the agency doesn't consider ethereum's native cryptocurrency a security.
On Thursday, the SEC's director of corporation finance William Hinman notably said that, based on his understanding of "the ethereum network and its decentralized structure, current offers and sales of ether are not securities transactions."
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The news was today welcomed by Chris Concannon, president and COO at Cboe, who said in a statement that the exchange is "pleased with the SEC's decision to provide clarity" around the issue – a cloud that has been hanging over ethereum since April, when a former regulator suggested that ether and the Ripple-linked cryptocurrency XRP were both securities.
Concannon continued to say:
"This announcement clears a key stumbling block for ether futures, the case for which we've been considering since we launched the first bitcoin futures in December 2017."
In previous comments this past December, Concannon also suggested the Cboe might also launch bitcoin cash futures sometime in the future.
Ethereum futures are already live on another platform - the U.K.-based startup Crypto Facilities launched the product last month. Crypto Facilities is notably a partner with CME Group, and is powering the latter's Ether Reference Rate Index. A similar bitcoin index helped CME launch bitcoin futures last year.
After news of Hinman's comment broke, the price of ether spiked around $70 to over $520, though by press time it had returned to $494.
Ether and U.S. dollars image via Shutterstock
More For You
Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale.
What to know:
Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token.
The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility.
More For You
HYPE token's 50% surge is a story of crypto-traditional market convergence, treasury firm says
HYPE has surged 50%, outperforming bitcoin, ether and the CoinDesk 20 index by a big margin.
What to know:
- Hyperliquid's HYPE token has surged more than 50% to $34.57 this week, far outpacing bitcoin, ether and the broader crypto market, as trading activity on the platform accelerates.
- The token rally represents the merging of traditional assets with the crypto world, according to Hyperion DeFi, which is a HYPE treasury company.
- Originally a crypto perpetuals exchange, Hyperliquid has expanded into tokenized trading of equity indices, individual stocks, commodities and major fiat pairs via its HIP-3 upgrade.
Top Stories
