What is Bitcoin Futures?

The world of cryptocurrency trade, generally introduced in this 21st century, is indeed a truly exciting world. Cryptocurrency simply refers to digital money. Bitcoin falls in this category. Interestingly, like other assets, Bitcoin boasts of a futures market.

But what is a futures market? In a futures market, a buyer accepts to buy a security. This is done through a contract that states the time and price at which the security will get sold. Reflecting on this, one expert on cryptocurrency trade recently declared that selling futures contracts is a great way to short bitcoin. Yet, what are some benefits of trading in bitcoin futures?

Bitcoin futures enjoy the luxury of allowing traders to predict the future price of bitcoin. This is referred to as speculation. But just how do they do this? It’s fairly simple. The ordinary trader simply gets to bet based on the current price of bitcoin and many end up profiting massively on their speculation.

Certainly, the bitcoin futures business is big business. Illustrating this, at a recent launch of bitcoin futures in the US, the event was greeted with euphoric excitement. Amazingly, the price of bitcoin shot to a whopping US dollars 17,382.64 in just one day! Indeed, this was an all-time high.

High Prices of Bitcoin are Perilous

Img source: cryptocrimson.com

Is it such a good thing, in investment terms, that the price of bitcoin should soar so high? Initially, one would say yes. In reality, though, this is far from good. How? Simple. This state of things could be highly perilous for the value of bitcoin in the final analysis. In the end, bitcoin prices might fall sharply.

What are other benefits of bitcoin futures? Some of these are listed below:

  • It provides a central market for traders to speculate, basing on current bitcoin prices and fortunes.
  • It offers transparency to traders
  • It provides a place for centralized clearing of trade.
  • It offers deep liquidity to traders.
  • It affords an opportunity for efficient discovery of price.
  • It affords new investors a choice to bet against the cryptocurrency bitcoin.
  • It gives traders room to settle their contracts in dollars. The extra effect is that their liquidity is greatly boosted.
  • It gives investors a chance to trade in cryptocurrency even though they actually do not own any cryptocurrency. Eventually, this protects traders from any fluctuations in the real-time market. For check some other trading solutions. check algo-signals.com.

Great Lessons in Bitcoin Futures Trade

Img source: openaccessgovernment.org

Undoubtedly, crypto futures today exist as a new market. Yet, is the trade in cryptocurrency futures really so new and peculiar to this 21st century? We might immediately think: Yes. Surprisingly, the answer is, again, no!

Way back in 1750 B.C in ancient Mesopotamia, this kind of trade actually happened! How? As we know, around this time, the fabled King Hammurabi of Babylon introduced a code of laws in his country. Inside the famous Hammurabi Laws was a requirement for his people to trade in goods for a specified price and at a future day.

A key component of the bitcoin futures dealing is what is called a futures contract. A futures contract is a deal to sell or buy assets at a set price on a decided date in the future. Under such a contract, one party usually buys either bonds or stocks or other commodities bitcoin, oil or gold. These are delivered only later. The other party to the contract, on the other hand, accepts to deliver the assets as arranged.

Interestingly, an important requirement of the bitcoin futures contracts is that they must be traded on exchanges that are standardized such as the CBoE or CME. Ultimately, the arrival of bitcoin futures in the world of business has had one major effect: It has encouraged traders to invest in digital currency. The ripple effect is that today the cryptocurrency Bitcoin has joined the ranks of mainstream finance options for millions of people around the world.

In conclusion? The choice is ultimately yours. What is certain is that the trade in bitcoin futures is certainly here to stay; for posterity.

Peter is a freelance writer with more than eight years of experience covering topics in politics. He was one of the guys that were here when the foreignspolicyi.org started.