Bitcoin Breaks Above $6,400 on its Ninth Anniversary

This isn’t a trick, nor is it spooky; bitcoin’s done it again by reaching a new all-time record–on its ninth anniversary, no less.
On Tuesday (October 31) the digital currency cracked above the $6,400 mark for the first time in its history to reach $6,411.73, nearly a decade after Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoin’s creator, released the bitcoin whitepaper on October 31, 2008.
“Bitcoin has had a phenomenal year in 2017 surpassing many expectations as the decentralized currency now commands a whopping $100B market capitalization,” the Bitcoin News press release states.

While bitcoin’s price increase comes–perhaps conveniently–on its ninth anniversary, the CME Group announced on Tuesday the launch of bitcoin futures, which may have bolstered the digital currency’s latest price record.
According to the CME Group’s press release, the launch is expected for the fourth quarter of 2017, “pending all relevant regulatory review periods.”
The release continues, stating bitcoin futures will be cash-settled and based on its CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate, which rates the US Dollar price of bitcoin once per day.
“Given increasing client interest int he evolving cryptocurrency markets, we have decided to introduce a bitcoin futures contract,” Terry Duffy, CME group chairman and CEO said in the release. Duffy added that the CME Group is a “natural home” for bitcoin futures as it will provide “transparency, price discovery and risk transfer capabilities” to investors.
That being said, the CME Group’s announcement certainly didn’t come without criticism.
In an interview with CNBC, Joe Saluzzi, a principal at Themis Trading said that while he doesn’t have a problem with bitcoin itself, he takes issue with those on Wall Street “trying to package something up and put a derivative label on it when they don’t really know what’s underneath.”
“It reminds me of the financial crisis all over again,” he continued, and took to Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) to express his concerns as well.

Remember the CDO wrapper around all those crappy mortgages during the financial crisis? Placing a wrapper doesn’t make it safe.

— Joe Saluzzi (@JoeSaluzzi) October 31, 2017

As is the nature of cryptocurrencies, the bitcoin price took a step back later in the day on Tuesday, dipping slightly to $6,378.58 as of 5:24 p.m. EST.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Jocelyn Aspa, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.