Bitcoin’s surge past $17,000 late last week reinforces an important economic theory: a rapidly-expanding asset bubble will always draw a crowd. But it should also reinforce fears about a situation that is not limited to a few foolish retail punters and a few swashbuckling hedge funds. This is a crisis for financial services.
The cryptocurrency’s rise is a source of much hilarity for most of finance, reminding us that you can always count on dumb money. But financial institutions — exchange operators, derivatives clearing houses and others —have now joined the party, taking a slice of business from bulls and bears alike. Today, Cboe Global Markets began allowing investors to trade bitcoin futures, and the CME Group will follow suit on the 18th.