Bitcoin Value Jumps on News of World's Biggest Exchange Announces Plans for Futures

[engine]

Bitcoin value is up again, to $6,350, thanks to the decision of the World's largest exchange owner to introduce bitcoin futures by the end of 2017.

"The concern is that CME will attempt to treat bitcoin like a corn or wheat future when this commodity is in a highly risky class of its own," Williams said. "One of the major spots to buy and sell bitcoin are through unregulated bucket shop exchanges located outside of the reach of U.S. regulators." He noted that since 2009, almost half of these types of exchanges included Mt. Gox, once the world’s largest bitcoin market, have gone bust. "CME has no other commodity future that looks like or behaves like bitcoin. To me this means trouble." Bitcoin Value Jumps on News of World's Biggest Exchange Announces Plans for Futures [bloomberg.com]

[NickMNS]

At $6350 there is probably money to be made by mining it. The problem is the insane volatility and the time required to mine the coin. You start today, by the time you mined the coin the price will be back at $1500.00. So a futures market would provide miners a means of hedging. But given the volatility, the margin required will likely be high and the price low vs the spot, thus making it impossible to make money mining (this is pure speculation), rendering the market useless to miners. So let the gambling / money laundering begin.