Bitcoin futures surge past $17,000 on launch day
Bitcoin began trading on its first major global exchange Sunday, in a milestone for the digital currency that has surged to record highs this year.
A token of the virtual currency Bitcoin is seen placed on a monitor that displays binary digits in this illustration picture, December 8, 2017.
The front-month bitcoin futures contract on the Chicago-based CBOE Futures Exchange surged past $17,000 on Monday, the first day of trading.
The first-ever bitcoin future jumped after it began trading Sunday as the increasingly popular virtual currency made its debut on a major US exchange.
The January contract opened at $15,460 in New York on Sunday evening, before leaping to a high of $17,170 during Asian hours.
They were last quoted at $17,120, a more than $1,000 premium to the price on Gemini Exchange.
The futures are cash-settled contracts based on the auction price of bitcoin in US dollars on the Gemini Exchange, which is owned and operated by virtual currency entrepreneurs Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
Bitcoin futures rally trips Cboe circuit breaker, triggering a brief halt https://t.co/StLjw9uVSZ pic.twitter.com/5lGZlL2Uzh
— Bloomberg (@business) December 11, 2017
What is bitcoin?
Bitcoin is the world's most popular virtual currency. Such currencies are not tied to a bank or government and allow users to spend money anonymously. They are basically lines of computer code that are digitally signed each time they are traded.
Debate over bitcoin
A debate is raging on the merits of such currencies. Some say they serve merely to facilitate money laundering and illicit, anonymous payments. Others say they can be helpful methods of payment, such as in crisis situations where national currencies have collapsed.
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