CME to Add Daily Expiries on Bitcoin and Ether Futures Options Contracts; USDC Issuer Circle Exec to Testify at US Congressional Hearing on Stablecoins; BoE Considers Limits on Stablecoin Payments as Parliament Debates New Crypto Rules

On Apr. 17, derivatives marketplace Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group, announced it will broaden its range of cryptocurrency options by adding new options to its standard and micro-sized Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) contracts. Pending regulatory review, these new contracts will be available from May 22, and expiries will be available every day of the business week from Monday to Friday. 

SAITECH Limited (SAI for short), a clean energy and computing operator based in Singapore, saw a surge in its stock price last Friday. The highest increase in SAI’s stock price on that day was $7.4, a 387% rise from the previous day’s price. The closing price of the stock was $4.9, still up 222.3% from the previous day. Based on the closing price, the company’s market value was $111 million. The turnover rate and trading volume of SAI on that day were both very high, which showed enthusiasm among investors about SAI.

Bitcoin dominance is currently 46.80 % of total market capitalization.

Blockchain technology has been making waves in the tech world for the past few years, and it’s no surprise why.

Derivatives marketplace Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is adding to its cryptocurrency offerings with daily expirations soon to be available on bitcoin and either futures options contracts, the company said in a press release on Monday.

Bitcoin led the way as digital asset investment products saw inflows for a fourth week in a row last week, according to Coinshares.

Chinese banks are opening bank accounts for regulated crypto companies, with several acting as a payment layer for the crypto platforms.

Major cryptocurrencies experienced moderate losses on Monday as the dollar index tracked Treasury yields higher, signaling the market's growing comfort with the Federal Reserve's liquidity tightening cycle. Bitcoin fell below $30,000, registering a 1.7% drop on a 24-hour basis, while Ethereum's native token Ether fell by nearly 1.8% to $2,084. The DeFi dominance index held steady at around 4.3%, according to data from TradingView. The dollar index rose to 101.80, and the yield on the 10-year note rose to its highest level in a month at 3.54%. The Fed is expected to raise rates by 25 basis points to the new range of 5% to 5.25%, which could inject volatility into risk assets, including cryptocurrencies. Tech billionaire Elon Musk also revealed that US government agencies have full access to Twitter user activity, including direct messaging.