Wall Street Giant Citigroup Files for Offering Bitcoin Futures Trading to Clients

Citigroup, one of the Big Four banking institutions of the United States, is developing to start offering Bitcoin futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). The banking giant is awaiting regulatory approval for a cryptocurrency trading desk.

According to a recent CoinDesk report, an unidentified source inside the bank said Citigroup is currently seeing a steady gain in client interest for Bitcoin exposure. If approved, Citigroup will start offering its clients Bitcoin Futures trading through CME. Previously, another Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs made a similar offering.

A Citigroup spokesperson wrote: "Our clients are increasingly interested in this space, and we are monitoring these developments. Given the many questions around regulatory frameworks, supervisory expectations, and other factors, we are being very thoughtful about our approach."

"We are presently considering products such as futures for some of our institutional clients, as these operate under strong regulatory frameworks."

Yet another source that conversed with the media outlet said that Bitcoin exchange-traded notes (ETNs) were next in line after the approval to trade CME Bitcoin futures. The word on the street is that Citi is hiring traders to work with Bitcoin futures to be a part of the crypto team in London. However, the bank shot it down by stating it as "inaccurate".

Numerous traditional investment companies are already exploring Bitcoin futures trading approval, while Citigroup is the new big fish in the Ocean.

Collaboration powered by the NYDIG (New York Digital Investment Group), banking giants Wells Fargo and JPMorgan last week on 19 Aug, filed for passive Bitcoin funds for their affluent clients. On the very same day, Coinbase also announced a tie-up with one of the most comprehensive traditional banks in Japan, Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG) Financial Group.

Goldman Sachs has also resumed a trading desk to make markets in cryptocurrencies back in March. Now they have started offering specific clients access to bitcoin via a derivative called NDF (non-deliverable forwards). This lets holders bet on bitcoin's short-term price direction while getting paid in cash rather than bitcoin. Goldman hedges the bet by buying or selling bitcoin futures on the CME.

Several other financial institutions are working on offering Bitcoin derivative products to their clients. Amid rising client demand, Fidelity recently declared of putting major focus on Bitcoin investments.