October 26th might be one of the most significant dates in the crypto calendars this year due to an event might catalyze a trend reversal in the crypto markets. The crypto markets have been on a free fall since February when news of banning crypto trading in China and South Korea hit the crypto-verse. A few months prior, and on December 17th, the CME Group had launched Bitcoin (BTC) Futures contracts. The trading of the investment instruments, is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Quarterly Schedule of Trading
The trading of Bitcoin futures contracts occurs in three month periods or what is simply known as quarters. The trading of the current futures contracts, initially started on July 30th. The last day of trading these Bitcoin contracts, is today October 26th.
The full schedule of the current BTC futures contracts and future ones can be found below.
Exact Timing of the Termination of Trading
The last day of trading is scheduled for the last Friday of the contract month. With regards to time, the trading of the CME Bitcoin futures halts at 4 pm London time on the last day of Trading. This information can be found on the frequently-asked-questions page of the CME website. The page goes on to provide the following information with regards to listing cycle and termination of trading.
Listing Cycle: Nearest 2 months in the March Quarterly cycle (Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec) plus the nearest 2 “serial” months not in the March Quarterly cycle.
Termination of Trading: Last Day of Trading is the last Friday of contract month. Trading in expiring futures terminates at 4:00 p.m. London time on Last Day of Trading.
How Does This Affect Bitcoin
The observation by many crypto traders is that whenever any Bitcoin futures contracts are about to expire, the crypto-markets tend to become more volatile or less active. Back in June, Fundstrat CEO, Thomas Lee had explained this phenomena as follows:
Bitcoin sees dramatic price changes around CBOE futures expirations. This was something flagged by Justin Saslaw at Raptor Group. We compiled some of the data and this indeed seems to be true.
A broader observation is there is significant volatility around these expirations.
Observing the values of our favorite digital assets, we find that many are in the red with Bitcoin still stable at levels above $6,400. Perhaps with the expiration of the CME Bitcoin Futures today, we might see the King of Crypto become active again as we enter a new cycle of the investment products. Traders might also need to mark November 30th on their calendars, for this is the date the next batch of Futures contracts expire.
What are your thoughts on the CME Bitcoin Futures expiring today? Please let us know in the comment section below.
[Image courtesy of news.bitcoin.com]
Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of Ethereum World News or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.
