Ether hits a new all-time high as CME ETH futures Contracts Goes live
By: Henry Felix

February 9, 2021 11:58 PM
ETH which is the native cryptocurrency of Ethereum, sees a new all time high record as CME launches ETH dedicated futures.
On Feb. 9, Ether price rallied to a new high of $1,830 on major crypto exchange Binance. ETH price rally happened just hours after trade on CME was launched.
In Dec. 2017, CME first listed the Bitcoin futures contract. Bitcoin price crashed afterwards from $20k to around $6k.
According to various analyst and traders, many of whom were expecting ETH to follow the same pattern as BTC after Bitcoin futures launched on CME in Dec. 2017. ETH rally to a new record-high is notable because of the negative sentiment around it prior to the listing on CME.
The difference in between 2017 and 2021 bull market is largely down to institutional demand cryptocurrencies in general, with large interest from institutional investors in Bitcoin there could be a shift in rising demand in support for Ethereum as BTC could soon be out of reach for many.
Ether Futures launch on CMEGroup Bank ended with over $30M volume recorded and $20M in open contract. As the volume is expected to keep increasing, it would show that more institutions are also considering ETH as a potential investment.
Ryan Seans Adams, who is an Ethereum investor said:
“ETH futures go live on the CME today This is huge. This is a bridge to institutions. This is a green light from U.S regulators. ETH is becoming globally accepted commodity money.”
CME listing will be a catalyst for Ethereum
Researchers at the CoinMetrics team said in a note that they believe CME’s ETH futures launch could accelerate inflows of ETH into the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE).
However, if the institutional appetite for Ethereum rises as a result and Grayscale ETH inflows should spike, it is possible that the sentiments around ETH both long and short term could quickly
improve. Researchers said:
“CME’s launch may potentially accelerate ETH inflows into Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust (ETHE) - investors can buy into the Grayscale Trust while simultaneously shorting ETH, remaining market neutral and pocketing the ETHE premium. Grayscale’s Ethereum trust does not currently have a method for withdrawing ETH so it effectively serves as a large token sink for ETH.”