Traders have shown weak interest in micro-Ether (ETH) futures on the Chicago Exchange (CME). As a reminder, this product became available on December 6th.
A similar Bitcoin-focused product was launched at CME on May 3rd. Moreover, the interest in micro-futures on BTC was significantly higher compared to ETH.
In two weeks, investors completed transactions with 115,000 Ethereum contracts, the press center of the Chicago Stock Exchange reported.
Interest in ETH micro-futures has been weaker than we initially expected, according to Tim McCourt, CME's head of alternative investment products. However, the marketplace believes that investment in this product will continue to grow in the coming months. The emergence of micro-futures will allow traders to hedge risks.
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In the first half of May, after the launch of bitcoin micro-futures, investors completed transactions with 224,151 contracts in two weeks. Micro futures are 1/10th of Bitcoin and Ether, while standard contracts are 5 BTC and 1 ETH.
Weak activity of traders in the first half of December, most likely, was caused by sales in the spot market at the very beginning of the month and the subsequent collapse of cryptocurrencies.
As soon as digital currencies go up, then the activity on the Chicago Stock Exchange will increase, experts say.