International derivatives marketplace CME Group Inc (NASDAQ:CME) today announces its partnership with digital assets trading platform Crypto Facilities Ltd. to develop two new products:Â CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate (BRR) and CME CF Bitcoin Real Time Index (RTI).
The roll out is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2016.
The BRR will aggregate the trade flow of major Bitcoin spot exchanges during a specific calculation window into a once-a-day, transparent reference rate of the U.S. dollar price of Bitcoin, whereas the RTI will be calculated by Crypto Facilities and will be based on global demand to buy and sell bitcoin aggregated into a consolidated order book. It will reflect the current market price of bitcoin in U.S. dollar terms and will be published approximately once every second.
CME Group, Crypto Facilities and Imperial College London will act as core members of an oversight committee responsible for overseeing the BRR. The oversight committee will develop a code of conduct for participants and regularly review the practices and standards followed in the determination process to protect the BRR’s integrity.
A number of Bitcoin exchanges and trading platforms will provide pricing data upon which the reference prices will be calculated, including Bitfinex, Bitstamp, Coinbase, Genesis Global Trading, itBit and Kraken.
Sandra Ro, Executive Director and Digitization Lead at CME Group, says,
“These products are designed to allow bitcoin traders, companies and other users to rely on a credible reference rate price source. Delivering innovative products and services that meet the market’s evolving needs is at the core of CME Group’s business, and we are proud to lead the way for the industry as digital assets develop.”
Dr. Timo Schlaefer, Crypto Facilities, says,
“The availability of robust reference prices with independent oversight is key to the professionalization of bitcoin trading and further establishes digital assets as a new asset class. We are excited to work with CME Group on the construction and implementation of this reference rate and index.”
You can view the official announcement on the launch of the new products by clicking here.