Investing.com - Jeff Sprecher is the founder, chairman, and CEO of the Intercontinental Exchange, as well as the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, so he knows a thing or two about financial markets. Speaking at the Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) U.S. Financial Services Conference yesterday, he indicated he could regret not moving faster to offer Bitcoin futures.
The CME and CBOE beat him to the punch, and will begin trading Bitcoin derivatives over the next two weeks.
ICE is already an investor in the crypto space, securing a minority stake in the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in 2015. However, when it came to futures, Sprecher was wary and said he didn’t think it was obvious to rush out a product, especially because in the case of Bitcoin, there have been plenty of buyers flooding exchanges with cash, but it is harder to figure out who would want to short.
“We may be stupid for not being first on that,” he admitted.
Investors are divided when it comes to the impact of Bitcoin futures. While some believe that institutional money will help propel Bitcoin higher, others believe the ability to short Bitcoin futures will drive the price sharply down.
The question of Bitcoin futures' impact on Bitcoin's price will be answered, possibly as soon as next week.