Investing.com – Bitcoin eased from record highs but remained well supported amid growing expectations of a surge in demand for the popular digital currency after two major exchanges announced plans to launch bitcoin futures by year-end.
On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, bitcoin fell to $11,131, down $31, or 0.28% after hitting an all-time high of $11,843 earlier in the session. The popular digital currency market cap rose to $189 billion.
Cboe Global Markets Inc. said Monday it will start trading bitcoin futures on Dec. 10, after receiving the go ahead last week from US futures regulator CFTC. The news comes after CME group announced last week that it would launch bitcoin futures on Dec. 18.
"We are pleased to bring Bitcoin futures to market after working closely with the CFTC and market participants to design a regulated offering that will provide investors with transparency, price discovery, and risk transfer capabilities," said Terry Duffy, CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer on Friday.
The recent wave of optimism concerning bitcoin futures has added to investor hopes that bitcoin exchange-traded funds will follow the launch of bitcoin futures, which would cement bitcoin as an established asset class, raising hopes of a surge in institutional demand.
Bitcoin cash fell 1.43% to $1,481.70, while bitcoin gold fell 0.55% to $302.34.
Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, fell 1.93% to $450.20.
IOT/USD surged as much as 70% after announcing upcoming partnerships with tech firms including Microsoft and Samsung.