In a press release on the 11th of May, UK based Crypto trading platform, Crypto Facilities, launched Ethereum (ETH) Futures to bring greater efficiency and liquidity to the crypto markets. The new derivatives started trading on the platform as of 4pm UK time on the day of the announcement.

This means Crypto Facilities has 4 Crypto Futures products that include Bitcoin (BTC), Ripple (XRP) and now Ethereum. Ripple is the only asset with an extra product of Ripple to Bitcoin Futures on top of XRP/USD futures. This then adds up to 4 crypto futures products as earlier mentioned.

But what exactly is a Futures contract?

In traditional Stock market trading, A Futures contract is a legal agreement, generally made on the trading floor of a futures exchange, to buy or sell a particular commodity or financial instrument at a predetermined price at a specified time in the future. Futures contracts are standardized to facilitate trading on a futures exchange and, depending on the underlying asset being traded, detail the quality and quantity of the commodity.

How will this move aid Ethereum’s value in the markets?

On May 1st, Ethereum World News had reported of a $2,500 Ethereum price prediction by the end of 2018 that was made by Nigel Green, founder and CEO of deVere Group. This is due to the fact that Ethereum has emerged as the platform of choice for new token issuers due to its efficient and popular smart contract capabilities. This means that once scalability is solved through sharding, Ethereum is sure to obliterate the competition in this aspect of the industry.

The same sentiment of the increasing popularity of Ethereum is the reason Crypto Facilities decided on creating the new derivative of ETH futures. The CEO of Crypto facilities, Timo Schlaefer, had this to say about Ethereum in the announcement aforementioned:

Ether is the second most liquid cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, trading in the billions of dollars daily, and we are excited to be launching ETH futures. The Ethereum network is the pre-eminent blockchain for smart contracts, and we believe this new trading instrument will attract more investors and bring greater liquidity to the marketplace.

This is good and bullish news about Ethereum: the King of Smart contracts.