Cryptocurrencies are not taking any rest in this end of the year. While CME Group launched its bitcoin futures contracts, Bloomberg added several cryptocurrencies to its Terminal and ICOs have reached stellar heights in the last months.

Yesterday at 6 p.m. EST, leading derivatives marketplace CME Group launched its awaited bitcoin futures contract. The launch, planned since a few months, comes one week after CBOE released its own futures contracts in the market, then causing the cryptocurrency’s price to rise to previously unattained heigths. One week later, the launch of the second crypto-based futures contracts pushed the digital currency’s price even higher, going up to USD 19,400 at launch time, according to CoinDesk’s bitcoin index.

Small shade on this healthy start, a certain fatigue has been noticed on the market as the price fell down in the 30 minutes following the launch. The futures contracts were going negative during early trading, after opening at USD 20,650 and rising moderately after the launch. The futures contracts will expire on the 18th of January. According to CNBC, more institutional-level investors are trading the CME contracts than the CBOE contracts. Yet, the latter knew a growth after launching that CME’s futures contracts were expected to equal or top, but this was not the case.

In this end of this period, we can frankly say that the cryptocurrency world underwent a mad year: previously unseen increases in market prices, volumes raised through ICOs having topped USD 3.48 billion between January and November, and ICO launching services currently multiplying.

An other remarquable fact, the indispensable Bloomberg Terminal is now listing Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple. Bloomberg adds its renowned name to the list of industry leaders adopting cryptocurrencies, as the uncertainty is still dividing stakeholders.

By Jean Leguy, Research Coordinator at Holland FinTech