BNB’s soaring futures open interest and regulatory woes weigh on the altcoin’s price

The price of BNB token has experienced a 24.5% decline over the past 90 days, despite a 7% gain between July 10 and July 11. BNB has performed worse than the overall altcoin market, indicating that the underlying cause for the bearish momentum persists. It is highly likely that the correction in BNB’s price can be attributed to the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Binance exchange and its CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao on June 5, as the decoupling coincides with that event. BNB/USDT (blue)…

CFTC case against Digitex futures exchange and CEO results in $16M court order

A United States federal court has ordered Digitex CEO Adam Todd to pay roughly $16 million in disgorgement and penalties related to a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) case. In a June 12 announcement, the CFTC said a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued a default judgment against Todd and Digitex LLC, Digitex Limited, Digitex Software Limited and Blockster Holdings Limited Corporation for failure to register with the CFTC and manipulating the price of the DGTX token. As part of the judgment, the…

Bitcoin ETF hopium fades as on-chain and futures data reflect traders’ muted activity

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading between $29,900 and $31,160 for the past 18 days, causing concern among investors who are looking for explanations for the lack of a clear trend.  After a 25.5% rally between June 15 and June 23 leading to Bitcoin’s highest level in 13 months one would expect investors to become more active and optimistic, but the lack of BTC’s ability to sustain prices above $31,000 and neutral on-chain and derivatives data do not corroborate this thesis. Bitcoin ETF expectations faced a harsh regulatory…

Bitcoin (BTC) Rally Puts Focus on Futures Market Quirk That Underscores Need for Spot ETFs

The cryptocurrency topped $31,000 late last month, reaching the highest in a year. With the rally, the spread between prices for the Chicago-Mercantile Exchange (CME)-listed July futures contract and the now-expired (the-then front-month) June futures contract exploded to nearly $500, the highest gap since the bull market days of late 2021, according to data from charting platform TradingView. Original

Bitcoin futures premium hits 18-month high — Time to flip bullish?

The Bitcoin (BTC) futures’ premium has reached its highest level in 18 months on July 4. But traders are now questioning whether the derivatives metrics indicate “excessive excitement” or a “return to the mean” after a prolonged bear market. BTC price gains capped by regulators, macroeconomics Bitcoin’s price has been trading in a narrow 4.4% range since June 22, oscillating between $29,900 and $31,160 as measured by its daily closing prices. The lack of a clear trend might be uncomfortable to some, but that is a reflection of the opposing drivers…

CME Group Unveils Plans of Launching Ether/Bitcoin Ratio Futures

The settlement of the ETH/BTC ratio futures will be linked to the value of CME Group Ether futures final settlement price, divided by the corresponding CME Group Bitcoin futures final settlement price. On Thursday, June 29, the world’s leading derivatives platform CME Group announced plans to launch the ether/bitcoin (ETH/BTC) ratio futures subject to approval from the regulators. These futures will be cash-settled meaning that the settlement will happen in cash instead of the underlying instrument. Also, the settlement will happen to the value of the CME Group Ether futures…

CME Group set to introduce ETH to BTC Ratio futures

On June 29, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group announced its plans to introduce Ether/Bitcoin Ratio futures. The launch of these futures contracts is slated for July 31, subject to regulatory review. Efficiently capture the relative value of ether and bitcoin in a single trade with Ether/Bitcoin Ratio futures, launching July 31. https://t.co/WDFhIt5rJ7 — CME Group (@CMEGroup) June 29, 2023 According to the announcement, the settlement of Ether/Bitcoin Ratio futures will be in cash, based on the final settlement price of CME Group’s Ether (ETH) futures divided by the final settlement price of…