Nasdaq is reportedly aim to launch bitcoin futures as well as launching derivatives on an exchange in the first half of 2018.
Most institutions have felt reluctant to start trading bitcoin because of its very high volatility and its link to money laundering and uncertainty.
With more people diving into this industry a new ecosystem will be born. With the emergence of bitcoin futures this will be a big step in the right direction for cryptocurrencies. Future contracts will enable traders to bet on the rise and fall of bitcoin. This will ultimately allow retail investors and large institution to become involved with the network. Nasdaq claims that their bitcoin futures will be more efficiently priced than what will be traded on the CME and CBOE global exchanges.
Many large institutions believe that cryptocurrency is asset class here to stay. This next level of the adoption stage will have larger participants in the marketplace and can help make liquidity a lot better. This is just the beginning of the financial markets bringing money into this industry. As more exchanges start to realize the power of crypto and the money that is pouring into crypto, a massive inflow of people will come. What can this do to the industry? Instead of a $330 billion market cap, i think by next year we can see that change to a $3 trillion market cap.