Bitcoin will most likely become it's own asset class, CME chairman says
As you may know, CME, the world's largest derivatives exchange announced last week that it would launch a futures contract of Bitcoin.
This is of course big news for Bitcoin. What it means is basically mainstream adaption and acceptance. It is in my opinion mostly positive. It means that big players will be involved and there will be some regulations. Thing is, for Bitcoin to grow much larger we need some regulations. I'm personally not for regulations at all, but "people" and institutions in general needs it.
If Bitcoin were to stay at the technical level it is now, it would mean that we would never get the other 99,5% of humans who are not owning Bitcoin now into it. Even though it is fairly easy to get involved with Crypto Currencies at this point, it is still far beyond the average person's capacity. I mean, most people I know, even people in their 30s and 40s don't even know how to Google. Seriously, they have poor googling-skills. And there is a far gap between being able to log in to your Facebook account and to set up a Bitcoin wallet. Lets face it.
Leo Melamed, chairman of CME group said today that he expects major investors to take part in bitcoin futures, which will start by the end of the year.
"We will tame Bitcoin into a regular type instrument of trade with rules"
Now, this may sound horrible I know. But considering the volume of which Bitcoins are traded today at 7000$, it is very far away from being tamed.
What I'm reading between the lines here is that they are expecting Bitcoin to become incredibly valuable. (Which comes as no surprise to many of us) But he is basically saying it out loud.
Calling Bitcoin a new assets class is also pretty heavy stuff. Bitcoin could actually become where all the value is flowing in and out from. It could be the entire monetary system. You have gold, stocks then Bitcoin. When you buy a stock, you spend your Bitcoins. When you buy Monero or Dash, you spend your Bitcoin.
IF regulatory powers accept Bitcoin as a alternative way of money, this is a possibility and we should not be afraid of regulation. As long as Bitcoin stays semi-anonymous and is based on the technology Sathosi wrote, we have many other options if we want deregulated currencies.
The main point is decentralized, not deregulated. Some regulations are necessary for wide mainstream adaption.
Imagine Bitcoin "only" reaching the level of the gold market - which will put 1 Bitcoin at $500,000. But this is nothing considering all the other possibilities Bitcoin have. It's pretty hard to to day to day transactions with gold. Even with Bitcoins current issues with speed, it's still faster than surgically remove a bit from a gold bullion and send it in the mail across the world. Gold doesn't even have that much industrial use (like silver) and it pretty much holds value because it's rare (like Bitcoin), it costs money to dig out (like Bitcoin) and it's beautiful (like Bitcoin!) . Bitcoin has all the characteristics of gold PLUS the ability to transact fast(er) and is basically just a modern digital version of Gold.
bitcoin will pleasantly surprise us all, except those who reject
We are bitcoin
Great analisa. Good job @scandinavianlife ;)
Thanks!
Just do it Bitcoin!!
Was up very late here in the USA, read this now just before dozing off. Good dreams now guaranteed. Prefer them to be CME free though. Thanks.
Very good article and particularly like the distinction you make between decentralised and deregulated. I came to the same conclusion that Monero and others will take over the deregulated side of things as Bitcoin goes mainstream. I just hope that they don't try and ban the deregulated coins and enforce only regulated coins.
Do you know when exactly CME will start bitcoin futures? I would like not to miss this while having some altcoins.