ChinaVirtuoso

BITCOIN climbed to a new all-time high of US$6,500 yesterday, boosted by bets the cryptocurrency could enter the financial mainstream after the world’s largest derivatives exchange operator said on Tuesday it would launch bitcoin futures.

CME Group Inc said it would provide a regulated trading venue for the cryptocurrency market and would launch the new derivatives in the fourth quarter of 2017.



The announcement was seen as a major step in the digital currency’s path toward legitimacy and mainstream financial adoption.

The aggregate value of all cryptocurrencies hit a record high of around US$184 billion yesterday, according to industry website Coinmarketcap, making their reported market value worth around the same as that of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley combined.

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