London Stock Exchange Shall Now Offer Bitcoin Futures and Options
On Thursday, April 13, the London Stock Exchange (LSEG) announced that it will soon introduce Bitcoin futures and options into its offerings. The announcement comes at a time when Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market has shown a very strong recovery in 2023.
In order to offer these services LSEG has joined hands with GFO-X, the institutional-grade trading venue, specifically dedicated to crypto derivatives. This will make the London Stock Exchange UK’s first regulated platform for the trading of digital currency derivatives.
Upon launch, GFO-X shall offer trading in cash-settled BTC index futures and options. Besides, GFO-X has also joined hands with LCH SA for the clearing of cash-settled digital asset index derivatives there providing an additional layer of trust to the ecosystem.
The press release notes that GFO-X is extracting new technologies from within a traditional market structure, with the goal of delivering 24 x 7 trading facility in the global crypto market.
As we know, the institutional demand for Bitcoin has been growing along with the surge in the crypto markets. Also, as more regulations comes into the market, it gives institutional players a greater confidence to deal with digital assets. Besides, with rising institutional participation, the demand for Bitcoin index futures and options is also growing significantly.
Speaking on the development, Arnab Sen, CEO and Co-Founder of GFO-X said: “Recent market events in the trading of digital assets have highlighted the need for a safe, regulated venue where large financial institutions can trade at scale, while keeping their clients’ assets protected. LCH delivers proven risk management capabilities across a range of asset classes and some of the most sophisticated clearing services in financial markets today.
As the UK’s first regulated and centrally cleared trading venue focused entirely on digital asset futures and options, our joint vision is to ensure digital asset derivatives’ trading and clearing requirements and growing demand can be met within a secure, highly regulated environment.”
The launch of Bitcoin futures and options by London Stock Exchange (LSEG) comes at a time when regulators have been tightening their grip on the crypto space. However, in February this year, the British government introduced a public consultation over the future of financial regulatory services for digital assets.
LSEG is not the only player to show interest in the crypto ecosystem. Earlier, the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) announced similar crypto offerings from its end.