First, it was the bitcoin future.
Soon, it could be the bitcoin exchange-traded fund, according to Chris Concannon, president at Cboe.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Cboe Global Markets, which is already competing with local rival CME Group Inc. to introduce bitcoin futures, might bring its own bitcoin-backed ETF. The ETFs will be backed by Gemini bitcoin market data and are expected end of the year or early next year.
Whether Cboe or CME brings a bitcoin ETF, both will need approval from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
“With regulated futures of a certain asset class like a bitcoin, you do have an opportunity to introduce ETFs and over time we do envision ETFs coming to market,” Chris Concannon, Cboe’s president, said in an earnings conference call Tuesday.
CME Group said last week it planned to list bitcoin futures before the end of the year.
Ed Tilly, Cboe’s chief executive officer and chairman, said in the call Tuesday that it’s “not surprising CME recognizes the same benefits of offering a transparent market.”
Cboe already trades equity ETFs on its exchange and the move to a bitcoin backed security might prove easier for it compared to CME.
“The cryptocurrency space is a space that I think we believe in and certainly our competitor across town believes in as well,” Concannon said. “I’m just encouraged by that validation.”