CME Group Inc. started trading bitcoin futures at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. The first contract for January expiration soared nearly 6% to $20,650 in the first trade but after several hours of trading, the value fell down to $18,760.

Even though there was a fall, many experts are considering that this will draw more people’s attention towards investing in Bitcoin.

UBS bank Chairman and former Bundesbank head Axel Weber warned, “Bitcoin is not money,” and urged regulators to keep a tab on the same.

The incident has also grabbed attention from the French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who wants to cite the issue at the G20 summit of major economies in April.

Mr Maire said: “There is evidently a risk of speculation. We need to consider and examine this and see how… with all the other G20 members we can regulate bitcoin.”

CME data shows that when the trading started, around 200 Bitcoin futures contracts were bought the trading started and the number went up to 666 volumes by press time.

By press time, prices of one Feb 2018 contract and two March 2018 contracts were above $20000.

Spencer Bogart, a partner at Blockchain Capital LLC shared his view about the initial trends: “We saw a nice open on light volume, but pretty uneventful so far. I do think we could certainly pick up in volume as Asia begins to open. This is a brand-new asset class and I think perhaps a lot of investors want to sit back and see how this plays out before dipping their toes in this market.”

Matt Osborne, CIO of Altegris, shared his view: “The CME [futures] contract is based on a broader array of exchanges. So there is a possibility that the CME contract may generate more interest and more volume.

“Volumes are going to slowly increase as professional traders get comfortable with the price action and more importantly get comfortable with the volatility.”

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