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Launch of Ethereum Futures Still & # 39; Up In The Air & # 39;
In mid-December, with the offer of CBOE and BTC's Bitcoin futures (BTC) which has been a year old, the entries for a similar vehicle for Ethereum (ETH) have begun to mount. As reported by Ethereum World News, the Commission for Commodities Trading in the United States, the financial authority that holds jurisdiction over certain cryptographic instruments, has begun to examine Ether. In a public statement, the body a bit cryptic wrote:
L & # 39; RFI [Request For Information] it also seeks to understand the similarities and distinctions between Ether and bitcoin, as well as opportunities, challenges and specific risks of Ether.
When this seemingly innocuous development broke down, many crypts and commentators began to speculate that the entity was trying to get feedback on the Ethereum project to precede a decision on vehicles backed by ETH.
Although it seems like giant steps have been taken behind closed doors, a recent report by The Block states that suppliers of similar products to Ethereum's futures are skeptical of such offers. Speaking at the outlet in an interview, Paul Chou, CEO of LedgerX, investment startup in cryptography, explained that there is only a 50/50 chance that ETH vehicles go live in 2019. Supporting the His line, Chou explained that many proposals for the type of product mentioned above are "premature", just as the applications of ETFs (Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund) were only two years ago.
The sentiment of LedgerX's boss was echoed by other pundits to whom The Block spoke. The former CFTC consultant, Jeff Bandman, head of a group of cryptocurrency consultants, explained that the plan proposed by Ethereum to integrate Proof of Stake (PoS) could complicate regulations, in particular because of potential risks.
Nelson Rosario, a lawyer with his hands in the proverbial cryptonie, also noted that the stakeout can be viewed as suspicious in the eyes of regulators. Probably referring to physically held futures, Rosario explained that the live stakeout with Ether could complicate products in hell while confusing network developers in the process.
While the prospects for futures supported by ETH in America seem "in the air", through the pond, there may be a different story. According to previous reports from us, an emerging encryption startup supported by Roger Ver based in Hong Kong, now called CoinFLEX, is planning to offer futures on Physical Ethics with up to twenty times higher leverage. It was not disclosed when the vehicle went live, but the company founder, Mark Lamb, seemed quite optimistic, both for his company and for the future of encrypted derivatives. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, he said:
Cryptographic derivatives could become an order of magnitude bigger than the spot markets and the main thing that would stop growth is the lack of physical delivery … Volumes are reduced due to a problem of trust when it comes to operations settled in cash.
Interestingly, many analysts and researchers are not convinced that such a product would push the value of Ether higher. In fact, at the beginning of September last year, Tom Lee, the controversial Crypto commentator at Fundstrat, said the product would have damaged ETH, but it would have helped BTC. Lee noted that Ether's future will allow speculators to weigh the price of Eth.
Despite the skepticism of Ethereum, the Bitcoin ETF Hype remains
All these rumors about Ethereum's future come in a new outcry for Bitcoin ETFs and products of a similar caliber. And, curiously, while futures are seen as less demanding than ETFs, analysts have high hopes for the latter, compared to the former.
Just recently, Bitwise Asset Management has filed an application for Bitcoin ETFs with the US Securities and Exchange Commission via an S-1 form. A few days before, the Winklevoss Twins, the two behind one of the first, if not the the first proposal by Bitcoin's ETF (which was denied) made it clear that they expect to see such a product, whether it takes months, years or even decades.
And a few days earlier, Bloomberg sources said that Japan's regulatory authorities were examining the possibility of presenting Bitcoin's ETF proposals. Yet these statements were quickly refuted by official spokespersons. Regardless of this, this accentuates the way in which there continues to be a discussion on the issue, even in the middle of a long price break.
Title Image Courtesy of eberhard grossgasteiger on Unsplash
