LSEG teams with digital trading platform to offer bitcoin futures and options
LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) – London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG.L) has teamed up with Global Futures and Options (GFO-X) to offer Britain’s first regulated trading and clearing in bitcoin index futures and options derivatives, the businesses mentioned on Thursday.
Britain, which goals to change into a worldwide hub for crypto know-how, launched a public session earlier this yr on future guidelines for cryptoassets, that are at the moment unregulated.
GFO-X, which is licensed by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, is a start-up platform aimed toward world institutional traders who need to commerce digital asset derivatives.
LSEG’s Paris-based LCH SA clearing unit will introduce a brand new, segregated clearing service, DigitalAssetClear, for cash-settled dollar-denominated digital property traded on GFO-X.
The new service is anticipated to begin within the fourth quarter of this yr, pending approval from French and European Union regulators.
“GFO-X is taking the first steps to extracting efficiencies from new technologies within a traditional market structure, with the goal over time of delivering 24/7 trading to global regulated digital asset markets,” GFO-X mentioned in a press release.
Rival CME Group (CME.O) already presents bitcoin futures and options, whereas CBOE (CBOE.Z) acquired a digital asset alternate, ErisX.
Deutsche Boerse’s (DB1Gn.DE)Eurex is due to launch greenback and euro denominated futures on the FTSE bitcoin index subsequent Monday.
GFO-X’s inclusion of a long-established mainstream clearing home is aimed toward reassuring traders after collapses within the crypto sector, together with FTX alternate.
“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,” mentioned Arnab Sen, chief govt and co-founder of GFO-X.
Frank Soussan, head of LCH DigitalAssetClear, mentioned bitcoin index futures and options are a quickly rising asset class, with rising curiosity amongst institutional traders.
“We look forward to working with GFO-X and market participants alike to build a liquid, regulated marketplace for these products, and contributing to its safe growth and development,” Soussan mentioned.
LSEG owns information and analytics enterprise Refinitiv, previously a division of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters holds a minority stake in LSEG, and LSEG pays Reuters for information.
Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Mike Harrison and Susan Fenton
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