Crypto Today: Bitcoin drops post-CME futures launch

Having reached fresh record highs above $ 19600 levels on Bitcoin on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange on Sunday, Bitcoin (BTC/USD), the world’s largest trading cryptocurrency, eroded nearly $ 2000 and dipped to $ 17,850 before recovering more-than a quarter of the recent slide to now trade around the $ 18,800 mark, modestly flat on the day.

Bitcoin rallied to all-times on the news that CME Group launched bitcoin futures, although reversed sharply, tracking a 6% drop in the futures contract within the first half hour of its open.

At the time of writing, XBT on CBOE advances over 6% to trade at $ 19,230, reversing from $ 20,500 levels. Meanwhile, the CME bitcoin front-month futures opened at $20,650 and have so far traded as low as $19,290 and as high as $20,650.

Meanwhile, its rivals Ethereum (ETH/USD) and Bitcoin Cash, the second and third largest cryptocurrency behind bitcoin respectively, in terms of the market capitalization, traded mixed. At the time of writing, ETH/USD drops -0.60% to trade at $ 717.95 levels, while Bitcoin cash rises +1.44% dives nearly 8% to $ 1853.44.  

Meanwhile, Bitcoin sits at the market capitalization of $ 319.65 billion, almost 55% of the the total market capitalization of the cryptocurrencies that sits at $ 584.57 billion.