Bitcoin futures start trading, get overwhelming demands

Futures of the digital currency, Bitcoin started trading on Sunday.

It has received such a wild reception that heavy traffic crashed the exchange provider's website and high volatility halted trading for two minutes.

Bitcoin futures expiring in January, 2018 opened at US$15,000 and climbed to US$16,660 within six minutes of trading.

Approximately, 1,000 contracts changed hands within the first three hours of trade.

Trading of Bitcoin futures marks a new milestone for the digital currency, which has already stunned the world by soaring 1,500 percent in 2017, easily making it the best performing financial asset this year.

Early this month, it jumped about 40 percent in 40 hours, smashing through five separate US$1,000-barriers and surging past US$16,000.

Bitcoin's meteoric rise has got many concerned that it’s fast building a bubble that's too fragile and may burst anytime soon.

And the trading of its futures has predictably come under similar skepticism from doubters, who worry that the new market could be exposed to hacks, technical snafus or manipulation schemes.

But the digital currency has seemed pretty much immune to criticism and skepticism throughout 2017, having soared despite criticism that it's unregulated, could be used for money laundering, and somewhat untraceable, among others.

As at the time of publication, the digital currency was trading at US$16,621.03, or approximately RM67,847.02.