Bitcoin plunged below $10,000 on Wednesday, marking its worst two-day rout in three years, only hours before the first monthly futures contracts on the controversial cryptocurrency expired.
比特币价格周三暴跌至1万美元以下,出现三年来最糟糕的两日暴跌,而就在几小时后,这种有争议的加密货币的首批月度期货合约将到期。
The most widely held digital currency has fallen almost a third in the past two days, reducing its total market value to about $165bn, on fears that global regulators will intensify their crackdown on market activity.
由于担心全球监管机构将加大打击市场活动的力度,这一持有面最广的数字货币在过去两天已经跌去近三分之一的价值,使其总市场价值减少至约1650亿美元。
The falling price was accompanied by record trading on the two Chicago derivatives markets that offer trading in bitcoin futures. About $325m of bitcoin futures changed hands at CME Group and Cboe Global Markets on Tuesday, equivalent to just under 30,000 bitcoins.
伴随着比特币价格下降,芝加哥两家提供比特币期货交易的衍生品市场创下交易量纪录。周二,芝加哥商品交易所集团(CME Group,简称芝商所)和芝加哥期权交易所全球市场(Cboe Global Markets)交易了约3.25亿美元的比特币期货,相当于近3万枚比特币。
Both futures contracts were down about 10 per cent in US early afternoon activity on Wednesday.
周三午后的交易中,两种期货合约都下跌了约10%。
The expiry of the first monthly futures contracts, listed by Cboe Global Markets, will be closely watched as professional investors examine ways to trade the volatile bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies inside the walls of a regulated exchange.
首份月度期货合约——在芝加哥期权交易所全球市场上市——的到期将受到密切关注,专业投资者将研究如何在受监管的交易所内交易波动剧烈的比特币和其他加密货币。
Bitcoin prices have fallen to roughly the same level as early December, when US market regulators allowed futures contracts to be traded. However, some traders expressed doubt that there was a link between the two.
比特币价格已差不多跌至去年12月初的水平,当时美国监管机构批准了比特币期货合约的交易。然而,一些交易商商对这两者间的联系表示怀疑。
“I don’t believe there is enough volume or open interest in futures to have any meaningful impact on the spot price of bitcoin,” said Garrett See, chief executive of Chicago-based cryptocurrency trader DV Chain.
芝加哥加密货币交易商DV Chain的首席执行官加勒特?西伊(Garrett See)表示:“我不相信期货市场有足够的交易量或持仓量,能对比特币的现货价格产生任何有意义的影响。”
Settlement of Cboe contracts is based on data collected from the Gemini Exchange. By Wednesday morning on Cboe, 4,431 January-expiry bitcoin futures contracts — of one bitcoin each — had changed hands at $9,780 per contract.
芝加哥期权交易所合约的结算基于从Gemini Exchange收集的数据。截至周三上午,芝加哥期权交易所全球市场交易了4431份1月到期的比特币期货合约——每份合约为1枚比特币——每份合约价格为9780美元。
That compared with a price per bitcoin immediately on cash exchanges of about $9,421.13. CME, the world’s biggest exchange operator by market value, had traded more than 3,000 contracts on Tuesday. Each CME contract is for five bitcoins.
相比之下,比特币的实时现金交易价格为每枚约9421.13美元。芝商所是按市值计全球最大交易所运营商,周二交易逾3000份合约,每份合约为5枚比特币。