Genesis Global Capital announced that it has executed the first ever OTC block trade of a BTIC (Basis Trade at Index Close) transaction on CME Bitcoin futures with Akuna Capital, an options market maker specializing in derivatives market-making and sophisticated modelling.
A commonly used equities product, BTIC has now been made available for cryptocurrencies for the first time. The execution of this trade demonstrates new ways traditional finance participants and markets are adapting to meet the demand for crypto products and services.
BTIC fills a hedging need for our counterparties who are benchmarked to the Bitcoin Reference Rate, said Joshua Lim, head of Derivatives at Genesis, in a statement.
Tim McCourt, CME Group global head of Equity Index & Alternative Investment Products, said in a statement: “BTIC enables market participants to more efficiently trade the basis while providing a regulated marketplace for real-time price discovery and enhanced trading precision for institutional participants who want to optimize holdings between the futures and spot markets.”
Trevor Bernard, head of Digital Liquidity at Akuna Capital, said in a statement: “Akuna welcomes another avenue for the developing bitcoin market to manage risk and express a view.”