CME Group’s launch of Bitcoin futures makes it “legit,” the mainstream press reports after the virtual currency hit Wall Street Tuesday.

Describing the impact of the world’s largest exchange owner offering futures trading by the end of 2017, Bloomberg said the “floodgates have been opened.”

“Bitcoin is going legit, for better or worse,” it writes today.

The move is an unexpected one, coming soon after CME said it had no plans to launch Bitcoin integration last month.

Client hunger to get in on the craze, the corporation said, was a key factor in reconsidering its approach.

“Given increasing client interest in the evolving cryptocurrency markets, we have decided to introduce a Bitcoin futures contract," Terry Duffy, CME Group chairman and CEO said in a press release.

"As the world's largest regulated FX marketplace, CME Group is the natural home for this new vehicle that will provide investors with transparency, price discovery and risk transfer capabilities."

While even the experienced player’s decision to interact with Bitcoin has its detractors, markets nonetheless surged as the once far-off Wall Street influx appears to get underway ahead of schedule.

Prices reached new all-time highs immediately after the announcement, hitting $6,449 on Bitstamp and remaining around those levels as of press time.