The highly anticipated launch of Bitcoin futures on the CBOE exchange was as fortuitous as one could expect in the world of cryptocurrencies, as the trading platform crashed in the first hour of being open.
Having scoffed at cryptocurrency exchanges struggling to meet the massive influx of people trying to enter the market over the past two weeks, mainstream financial institutions caught a glimpse of the behemoth that Bitcoin has become.
Nevertheless, Bitcoin futures have officially been launched and their reality has seen the market react positively.
Social media platforms were understandably busy – and people from all walks of life were giving their two cents worth in reaction to the newly launch futures.
Renowned stock picker Ronnie Moas reflected back on the launch of Amazon back in 1997 and how it has grown and survived the notorious dot.com bubble. He also threw in hopes of a $100,000 high:
Amazon went from $40 to $1200 even though shorts tried to hit this since 1997. Im not worried about NY/CHI manipulation. $BTC now has a $270 bln valuation & is a top 20 #currency vs > 180 currencies / #bitcoin is now @ a point where it cant be easily manipulated / $100K or bust
— Ronnie Moas (@RonnieMoas) December 11, 2017
This user claimed to be the first ever person to secure a Bitcoin futures contract:
I was the first one in the world to trade #Bitcoin futures. Losing trade, but still FIRST! pic.twitter.com/osHCPgIOns
— JVH (@Irishroundtable) December 10, 2017
American actor James Woods has been outspoken about Bitcoin in recent times, taking a speculative and cautious stance at the very best.
I’ve never trusted the concept of the Federal Reserve either, just for the record. I like tangible stuff, things that have real value. But I’m older and certainly old fashioned. I’m happy to admit I’m probably wrong about #Bitcoin, but I’m still never touching it.
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) December 10, 2017
Financial commentator and broadcaster Brian Kelly captured the first three Bitcoin futures listed on CBOE:
snapshot of #bitcoin futures on the open. Historic day! pic.twitter.com/ZtRWz2iajt
— Brian Kelly (@BKBrianKelly) December 10, 2017
Bitcoin podcaster Trace Meyer took a dig at CBOE and Coinbase as their sites went down – while noting the Bitcoin network was going strong:
#Bitcoin futures launched 15 min ago. @CBOE site is down. @coinbase is down. Lots of exchange are down. Guess they do not know how to scale. #Bitcoin network is up and has not experienced any downtime. Go figure. Go $BTC.
— Trace Mayer (@TraceMayer) December 10, 2017
Financial editor Holger Zschaepitz highlighted the most important fact – Bitcoin price was somewhat stable while the CBOE crashed.
Nobody was quite sure what would happen when the futures markets opened on Sunday night. What we know now: The #Bitcoin price is relatively stable while Cboe website crashed! pic.twitter.com/c7pAhhnl2a
— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) December 10, 2017
Long week ahead
While the initial launch of Bitcoin futures didn’t go as smoothly as CBOE may have hoped, the reality and effect of futures will only be truly felt when trading moves into full swing later today.
Nevertheless, CBOE tweeted that nearly 1,000 contract trades had been placed after two hours of initial trading.
Cboe #BitcoinFutures $XBT trades over 800 contracts in the first 2 hours post launch #bitcoin @GeminiDotCom https://t.co/kHiZo8DR9m] pic.twitter.com/oCCxRZcPnC
— Cboe (@CBOE) December 11, 2017
Bloomberg reported that two price circuit breakers were triggered during the first few hours of trading – an automated mechanism which is used to control volatility. CBOE will cut trading for five minutes if the Bitcoin price rallies by more than 30 percent.