Bitcoin.com is in talks to list a bitcoin cash (BCH) futures contract on a regulated exchange, according to David Shin, head of the company’s exchange division.
In an interview with Bloomberg, the Singapore-based Shin said he had early talks to ensure a BCH futures contract would be available on an exchange regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). He also said Bitcoin.com hoped to partner with a retail brokerage.
No CFTC-regulated exchange offers bitcoin cash futures. Bitcoin cash is the fourth-largest cryptocurrency, behind bitcoin, ethereum and XRP. Shin said the push into futures would increase trading volumes and liquidity, and ultimately boost BCH’s market cap.
Bitcoin cash was trading Thursday afternoon around $300 a coin with a market cap of nearly $5.4 billion dollars, according to CoinDesk data. This is half the market cap of XRP, the next-closest coin, and 1/35th the value of market leader bitcoin.
Crypto futures are new to US investors. Available via the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) since December 2017, only one other U.S. exchange — Bakkt, which trades futures through ICE — has been approved, and that was just last month. LedgerX and TD Ameritrade-backed ErisX are awaiting final regulatory approval to expand their options trading to include futures contracts.
Shin said that Bitcoin.com had not met with CME.
Bitcoin.com image via CoinDesk archives.