CME lists Bitcoin futures (2017)
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a regulated US derivatives market, launched cash-settled Bitcoin futures. It let institutions bet on Bitcoin without holding it, using a familiar contract format.
The launch coincided with a Bitcoin price peak, then a long slide through 2018.
CME futures became a durable institutional on-ramp and a benchmark for later crypto derivatives.
Like Kraken's options, CME's move bet that traditional-finance formats would pull professional money into crypto. The format, not just the asset, drove adoption.
