Investing.com – Bitcoin fell on Monday, a day after the CME group’s launch of bitcoin futures trading showed investor appetite for bitcoin futures remained subdued, while Ethereum rose to record highs.
On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, bitcoin fell to $18,470, down $353, or 2.39%. The popular digital currency's market cap fell to $312.87 billion.
Bitcoin futures debuted on the CME Group’s on Sunday but investor uptake was fairly muted, easing expectations that the launch of bitcoin futures trading would extend the digital currency’s impressive rally.
Following the CME Bitcoin Futures contract launch on Sunday, less than 1000 contracts were reported to have traded so far, while on the CBOE, more than 3000 Bitcoin Futures contracts have traded on Monday.
Bitcoin cash rose 16.45% to $2,130 after regaining its crown as the third most valuable currency by market cap from Ripple.
Ripple XRP has struggled to pare losses after it rallied more than 80% last week following reports that banks in Japan and South Korea began tests of Ripple’s digital payments technology.
Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, rose 6.15% to $752.15, just shy of its record highs of $758.79 set earlier in the session Ethereum has surged recently amid reports that Swiss banking giant UBS would lead an Ethereum-based blockchain platform.