Cryptocurrencies

Futures Debut to Test Ether’s Bitcoin-Beating Rise to Record

  • CME Group to start Ether futures Feb. 8 pending final approval
  • Launch of Bitcoin futures in 2017 coincided with peak in boom
Photographer: Akos Stiller/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

An eightfold rally in Ether over the past year to a record faces possible turbulence from the impending launch of CME Group Inc. futures for the largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin.

The contracts set to debut from Feb. 8 evoke memories of 2017, when the start of Bitcoin futures coincided with a peak in the leading digital asset ahead of a spectacular bust. A Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco analysis posits the derivatives opened the door for bearish investors.