Share this article
Don't Blame Bitcoin Futures for Bear Market, CME Exec Says
Tim McCourt, managing director of CME Group, has said that bitcoin futures are not to be blamed for the slump in the crypto market this year.
By Wolfie Zhao
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 8:23 a.m. Published Sep 19, 2018, 10:02 a.m.
Tim McCourt, managing director and global head of equity products and alternative investments of CME Group, has said that bitcoin futures are not to be blamed for the price slump in the crypto market this year.
Talking during a panel on crypto derivatives trading at CoinDesk's Consensus Singapore 2018 event, McCourt told the audience that he does not think the introduction of bitcoin futures products resulted in the recent market downturn.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
"We are just a small part of the market," he added.
On the contrary, McCourt said bitcoin futures market has been growing, especially with volumes coming from Asia markets, which has been "fascinating." Explaining that trading activities in the hours before the U.S. market opens have a strong influence on the price of bitcoin futures on CME, he said:
"Out of the 40 percent of bitcoin futures trading on CME that's outside the U.S., 21 percent are coming from Asia."
DRW founder Don Wilson, in a fireside chat this morning at Consensus Singapore, also said that bitcoin derivatives trading volume from Asia is approaching that of the U.S., referencing data from both CME and Cboe.
McCourt went on to say that CME rolled out its bitcoin futures products "in response to demand from market participants who want to trade crypto derivatives on a regulated exchange."
"They want a regulated exchange to provide that vehicle with risk management to increase their comfort level," he added.
Also on the panel with McCourt, Phillip Gillespie, CEO of B2C2 Japan, said that, with larger exchanges moving into crypto derivatives and spot trading, regulators are also taking the space much more seriously now – a shift that may eventually open the doors to wider institutional adoption of crypto trading.
CoinDesk reported early this year that the trading volume of bitcoin derivative products in Japan had grown from $2 million in 2014 to a whopping $543 billion in 2017.
Gillespie said:
"We are starting to see regulators are coming in and institutions will be ready to come back next as regulators are shaping the space into more of a professionalism for sophisticated investors with more strict hiring structure and know-your-customer measures."
Tim McCourt image via CoinDesk
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Japan’s Higher Rates Puts Bitcoin in the Crosshairs of a Yen Carry Unwind
A stronger yen typically coincides with de-risking across macro portfolios, and that dynamic could tighten liquidity conditions that recently helped bitcoin rebound from November’s lows.
What to know:
- The Bank of Japan is expected to raise interest rates to 0.75% at its December meeting, the highest since 1995, affecting global markets including cryptocurrencies.
- A stronger yen could lead to de-risking in macro portfolios, impacting liquidity conditions that have supported bitcoin's recent recovery.
- Governor Kazuo Ueda indicated a high probability of a rate hike, with officials prepared for further tightening if their economic outlook supports it.
Top Stories
