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NEW YORK (Reuters) - The newest way to bet on bitcoin arrived on Sunday, with futures of the cryptocurrency that has taken Wall Street by storm starting trading for the first time.

The first bitcoin future <0#XBT:> trades kicked off at 6 p.m. (2300 GMT) on CBOE Global Markets Inc’s CBOE Futures Exchange.

Bitcoin January futures were at $15,940 (11,905.3 pounds), with 398 contracts traded, after having opened at $15,460.

The futures are cash-settled contracts based on the auction price of bitcoin in U.S. dollars on the Gemini Exchange, which is owned and operated by virtual currency entrepreneurs Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

On Sunday, bitcoin was up 2.62 percent at $14,990 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange. On the Gemini Exchange, it was at $15,600.