Markets Outlook by CoinDesk

Episode: Cboe Launches Continuous Bitcoin & Ether Futures
Date: September 12, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the Chicago Board Options Exchange's (CBOE) announcement of "continuous" futures contracts for Bitcoin and Ether—products designed to replicate the experience and exposure of popular offshore perpetual futures, but within a regulated US framework. The conversation features Catherine Clay, CBOE's Global Head of Derivatives, who discusses product structure, market excitement (especially at the Robinhood Hood Summit), the evolving needs of retail and institutional market participants, and the road ahead for regulated digital assets.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. CBOE’s Vision for Digital Asset Markets

• CBOE aims to innovate within the regulated digital asset space, building market infrastructure that appeals to both retail and institutional players.
  • "We try to stay focused at CBOE about really building an ecosystem around digital assets… We do that through our ETF listings both in Bitcoin and ETH." — Catherine Clay [00:59]
• The exchange is preparing to launch continuous Bitcoin and Ether futures on November 10, pending regulatory approval.

2. Retail Energy & Takeaways from the Robinhood Hood Summit

• The announcement was made at Robinhood’s Hood Summit, a flagship event for retail traders.
  • "When you get a thousand of the most passionate, enthusiastic, educated and active retail traders in one location… it’s just electric." — Catherine Clay [01:56]
• Retail traders at the conference want 24/7 trading and access to diverse assets and products, especially as digital assets and prediction markets grow in popularity.

3. Institutional Needs and Market Health

• Institutions value liquidity, transparency, and market integrity.
  • "The healthiest marketplace is one that has a diverse set of participants… institutions want liquid and lit and high integrity markets." — Catherine Clay [03:11]
• CBOE’s strategy is to bridge retail and institutional demand, ensuring robust participation and reliable trading environments.

4. What Makes CBOE’s “Perpetual-Style” Futures Different

• Product Structure:
  • Contracts are long-dated (10 year expiry), cash-settled futures that mimic the risk/reward of perpetuals, but in a regulated format.
  • "You don’t need to roll them all that frequently because they’re not expiring like normal futures." — Catherine Clay [04:22]
• Benefits:
  • Provides a way to short crypto in a regulated market, which is difficult with spot crypto.
  • Designed for both long-term holders and active traders.

5. Pegging and Funding Mechanism

• CBOE will utilize a daily funding rate to track the future’s price to the spot market.
  • "Once a day we'll do… a true up of where the future is versus where the spot is trading… that funding mechanism is methodically applied." — Catherine Clay [05:18]

6. Regulatory Path & Timeline

• The team is targeting a November 10, 2025 launch, "pending regulatory final approval."
  • "We’re all good and ready to go. Just hopeful that we get that final [approval]." — Catherine Clay [05:50]

7. Capturing Retail Perpetuals Volume

• CBOE isn’t direct-to-client, working instead through brokers, FCMs, and intermediaries.
  • "We rely on our partners, the broker, dealers, FCMs, an intermediated model…" — Catherine Clay [06:20]
• Their aim is to ensure seamless integration into existing client platforms, acknowledging the regulatory and structural differences from offshore venues.

8. Expansion Beyond Bitcoin & Ether

• If successful, the methodology could extend to other tokens and even other asset classes.
  • "When we get regulatory approval, this methodology has application to additional products… Ripple, Solana, name your underlying token." — Catherine Clay [07:10]

9. Market Reception at the Hood Summit

• The announcement was met with excitement and anticipation from active traders, signaling strong expected demand.
  • "There was definitely sort of an uproar of excitement and like, you know, can’t wait to trade this." — Catherine Clay [07:40]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Building a Diverse Market Ecosystem:
  “Institutions want liquid and lit and high integrity markets... we focus on making sure [they] can get out of that position in a reasonable manner, with high integrity, a lot of transparent liquidity.” — Catherine Clay [03:11]

• On Retail Energy:
  “When you get a thousand of the most passionate, enthusiastic, educated and active retail traders in one location… it’s just electric.” — Catherine Clay [01:56]

• On Product Innovation:
  “We announced this week that we're heading into the perpetual world by bringing continuous digital futures in bitcoin and ether.” — Catherine Clay [01:15]

• On Regulatory Outlook:
  “We have November 10th as our aspirational date to launch... just hopeful that we get that final [approval].” — Catherine Clay [05:50]

Key Timestamps

• 00:24 — Announcement of continuous Bitcoin & Ether futures; guest intro
• 01:56 — Highlights from Robinhood’s Hood Summit, retail trader priorities
• 03:11 — What institutions want from crypto markets
• 04:22 — Detailed breakdown of new perpetual-style futures contracts
• 05:18 — How daily funding rates peg futures to spot prices
• 06:20 — CBOE’s strategy to onboard retail flow via intermediaries
• 07:10 — Potential for expanding methodology to more tokens/asset classes
• 07:40 — Reaction at Hood Summit to the product announcement

Tone & Language

The episode is insightful and forward-looking, balancing technical market details with the optimistic energy of industry change-makers. Catherine Clay brings an air of enthusiasm and credibility, projecting CBOE’s commitment to both innovation and robust market structure. The conversation is accessible while remaining substantive, targeting industry participants, institutional actors, and engaged retail audiences.

For Listeners

This episode is a must-listen for anyone wanting future-focused insights on how core crypto market infrastructure is being built—and how regulated exchanges are working to serve both institutional and retail traders as digital assets mature in the US market landscape.