CFTC Chair Heath Tarbert: Ethereum Futures could be the next important product to the cryptocurrency sector

By Dorothy 02/1/20 1:26 PM

Heath Tarbert, the chair of the US Commodities and Futures Trading Commission CFTC, said he predicted the future of ether would come to the US market. He said that Ethereum Futures could be the next important product to the cryptocurrency sector. Futures are agreements that buy or sell a specific amount of commodity at a specific day for a set price.

Moreover, he expressed hope once again that the United States can lead the race on both digital assets and blockchain adoption. This is consistent with the Bakkt plan.

Tarbert said the CFTC is doing a lot of work in the area of digital assets, at a time when exchanges have listed both cash-informed and physically-focused BTC futures products.

Tarbert reiterated that he sees Bitcoin and Ethereum as commodities under CFTC, which is why there is so much CFTC activity in the digital asset space. It is worth noting that while the committee previously said that Bitcoin and Ethereum were commodities, it did not mean they could not be classified as securities or something else. Tarbert says that Bitcoin has dominated the future of the cryptocurrency market, but Ethereum may soon have its own similar product.

Ethereum Futures has recently been suggested by the president of Bitcoin Futures exchange, Bakkt. Adam White supports Tarbert’s view, saying that the CFTC only says that they theoretically approved futures for major crypto assets, Bitcoin and Ethereum.

In September of that year, Bakkt opened physically consolidated Bitcoin futures trading, followed by cash-focused trading and registered $ 124 million trading volume at the end of November.

Just a few months ago, the Chairman of the CFTC urged that the United States do more in terms of innovating digital assets and blockchain. Now, he reaffirms that his nation must be a leader in this way. In addition, he recently pushed more regulations on the cryptocurrency market. Because the CFTC has sanctioned Bitcoin and Ethereum are commodities, this raises concerns about thousands of unregulated digital assets.

Although foreign investors can trade ETH futures on exchanges outside the US, it is not yet available in the US market. That may change, according to chair CFTC. During his brief term, Tarbert, who took over from J. Christopher Giancarlo in April 2019, emphasized the importance of having digital assets rooted.

In November, he told the audience of crypto investors, as a manager, at least I wanted to create an environment where innovation could develop.