LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) - London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG.L) has teamed up with Global Futures and Options (GFO-X) to offer Britain's first regulated trading and clearing in bitcoin index futures and options derivatives, the companies said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Britain, which aims to become a global hub for crypto technology, launched a public consultation earlier this year on future rules for cryptoassets, which are currently unregulated.<\/p>\n
GFO-X, which is licensed by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority, is a start-up platform aimed at global institutional investors who want to trade digital asset derivatives.<\/p>\n
LSEG's Paris-based LCH SA clearing unit will introduce a new, segregated clearing service, DigitalAssetClear, for cash-settled dollar-denominated digital assets traded on GFO-X.<\/p>\n
The new service is anticipated to start in the fourth quarter of this year, pending approval from French and European Union regulators.<\/p>\n
\"GFO-X is taking the first steps to extracting efficiencies from new technologies within a traditional market structure, with the goal over time of delivering 24\/7 trading to global regulated digital asset markets,\" GFO-X said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Rival CME Group (CME.O) already offers bitcoin futures and options, while CBOE (CBOE.Z) acquired a digital asset exchange, ErisX.<\/p>\n
Deutsche Boerse's (DB1Gn.DE)Eurex is due to launch dollar and euro denominated futures on the FTSE bitcoin index next Monday.<\/p>\n
GFO-X's inclusion of a long-established mainstream clearing house is aimed at reassuring investors after collapses in the crypto sector, including FTX exchange.<\/p>\n
\"Recent market events in the trading of digital assets have highlighted the need for a safe, regulated venue where large financial institutions can trade at scale, while keeping their clients assets protected,\" said Arnab Sen, chief executive and co-founder of GFO-X.<\/p>\n
Frank Soussan, head of LCH DigitalAssetClear, said bitcoin index futures and options are a rapidly growing asset class, with growing interest among institutional investors.<\/p>\n
\"We look forward to working with GFO-X and market participants alike to build a liquid, regulated marketplace for these products, and contributing to its safe growth and development,\" Soussan said.<\/p>\n
LSEG owns data and analytics business Refinitiv, formerly a division of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters holds a minority stake in LSEG, and LSEG pays Reuters for news.<\/p>\n
Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Mike Harrison and Susan Fenton<\/p>\n
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.<\/p>\n
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LSEG teams with digital trading platform to offer bitcoin futures and ... - Reuters<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) - London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG.L) has teamed up with Global Futures and Options (GFO-X) to offer Britain's first regulated trading and clearing in bitcoin index futures and options derivatives, the companies said on Thursday. Britain, which aims to become a global hub for crypto technology, launched a public consultation earlier this year on future rules for cryptoassets, which are currently unregulated. GFO-X, which is licensed by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority, is a start-up platform aimed at global institutional investors who want to trade digital asset derivatives Continue reading