Share this article
CME Bitcoin Futures Price Above $20k in First Day Trading
CME Group's bitcoin futures trading began today with an opening price above $20,000 for its January 2018 contract.
By Stan Higgins
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 1:55 p.m. Published Dec 18, 2017, 12:45 a.m.
CME Group's long-awaited bitcoin futures began trading today with a bullish signal, as the sale price for its Jan. 18 contracts opened above $20,000.
Coming months after the Chicago-based derivatives exchange operator first revealed plans for dedicated bitcoin offerings, the launch took place at 6 p.m EST. At that time, the opening price for the January contract was $20,650, $1,150 over the last price on CME's reference rate ($19,500).
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
All told, more than 200 Jan. 2018 contracts were bought during the first hour, CME data reveals.
The operator's site shows that one Feb. 2018 contract and one March 2018 contract were sold, along with two scheduled to expire in June. Prices for the latter three are above $20,000 at press time.
Since the opening, contracts have also notably continued trading at a premium against the price of bitcoin, which according to CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) was $19,400 when CME launched trading of the bitcoin futures.
Along with last week's bitcoin futures kick-off from Cboe, the past week has now seen the launch of multiple products aimed at institutional investors. And, as previously reported, other institutional giants including Nasdaq and Wall Street's Cantor Fitzgerald are expected to launch products around bitcoin in 2018.
However, CME's launch also showed signs of market fatigue.
In a departure from the initially rocky launch for Cboe, which saw its website become briefly inaccessible due to significant traffic, CME's site remained stable after the open. Further, over the course of the first hour, bitcoin saw a sell-off, with the price declining to a low of $18,424.
For more information about bitcoin futures, read Level Trading Field CEO Lanre Sarumi's three-part CoinDesk series exploring the topic.
Disclosure: CME Group is an investor in Digital Currency Group, CoinDesk's parent company.
CME image via Shutterstock
Higit pang Para sa Iyo
Ano ang dapat malaman:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Bitcoin’s Deep Correction Sets Stage for December Rebound, Says K33 Research
K33 Research says market fear is outweighing fundamentals as bitcoin nears key levels. December could offer an entry point for bold investors.
What to know:
- K33 Research says bitcoin’s steep correction shows signs of bottoming, with December potentially marking a turning point.
- The firm has argued that the market is overreacting to long-term risks while ignoring near-term signals of strength, like low leverage and solid support levels.
- With likely policy shifts ahead and cautious positioning in futures, K33 sees more upside potential than risk of another major collapse.
Top Stories
