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Bitcoin Specs

By: Cboe

 

One of the most discussed topics in the financial world recently has been bitcoin and the technology behind bitcoin. In early August Cboe Global Markets announced the intentions to create futures based on the price of bitcoin.  Those contracts became eligible for trading on December 10th at 5:00 pm Chicago time.  For those considering trading Cboe USD Bitcoin Futures here are the product specs. 


The underlying ticker is XBT and the ticker to see the contract settlement values is XBTS. The contract multiplier is 1 so if a contract is trading at parity with bitcoin it will be worth about $13,000 based on current pricing.  The minimum tick for a directional, non-spread trade is 10 points or $10.  A spread trade between expirations has a much smaller tick of 0.01 bitcoin or $0.01.


Several expirations may be listed.  Standard, or monthly, contracts may be listed to expire for three continuous months and farther out for months on the March expiration cycle (Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec).  There may also be up to four serial weekly expirations.  Standard contracts will expire on the 2ndbusiness day before the third Friday of the month which typically will be a Wednesday. 


Trading hours run from Sunday night at 5:00 pm to Friday afternoon at 3:15 pm.  Specifically, the extended trading hours (ETH) session starts Sunday at 5:00 pm and ends Monday at 8:30 am with the ETH sessions for the rest of the week (Tuesday – Friday) consisting of opening at 3:30 pm the day before and ending at 8:30 am.  Regular trading hours are Monday – Friday from 8:30 am to 3:15 pm, just like the VIX futures.  All these time periods are Chicago time.
 

 

DISCLAIMER: Futures and options trading involve significant risk of loss and may not be suitable for everyone. Therefore, carefully consider whether such trading is suitable for you in light of your financial condition.