The leading CME group announced on Nov 02 that it's launching Ethereum Futures by Dec 06 (still subject to regulatory approval), marking it the first time a cryptocurrency is about to get "micro futures" in a lesser denomination than its typical base unit. In this case, Ether itself. The micro Ethereum Futures would be sized at 1/10 of one Ether, according to the official release. This would allow market participants of various sizes and risk appetites to benefit from the leading smart contracts platform in the world.

CME pitches the benefits for the micro Ethereum Futures product as follows: traders would be able to attain precision in their strategies and will be able to scale their trading positions up or down incrementally. This would also allow futures traders to be more efficient and save on "potential margin offsets". The upcoming launch shows that the institutional appetite for Etheruem is breaching new all-time highs.

The reason for launching Ethereum Futures was described by CME as "The ETH notional value has increased from $1.7K on the date that it launched to nearly $3.6K on October 11, 2021. The amount of capital needed to access the futures market has significantly increased. To make our market more accessible to risk managers and other traders, CME Group will launch the Micro Ether futures contract, which is 1/500 the size of the Ether futures contract (i.e. 1/10 of one ether versus fifty ether for Ether futures (ETH)"

Ether price has responded favorably to the news with the world's second-largest cryptocurrency now changing hands at $4545 and establishing a new all-time high. It's now up around 5.1% in the past 24 hours and appears to be in the price discovery mode after a long consolidation. The stars are finally aligning up for Ethereum as fundamentals get better over time and the infrastructure is developed further.

In a press release on July 20, Fidelity Digital Assets painted a severely hopeful picture of the crypto-investments environment and the future value of this new assets class. It referred to its survey conducted as part of its “2021 Institutional Investor Digital Assets Study”. According to Fidelity’s survey, seven out of ten institutional investors are expected to buy crypto-assets in the future and nine out of ten investors find the asset class appealing. 

It also forecasts that >90% of institutions interested in crypto-assets plan to have allocation in their or their client's portfolio by 2026. The Fidelity Digital Asset study cites “high potential upside and low crypto correlation to other asset classes” as the main appealing factors for institutional investors. It also confirms the perception that the legitimacy and realization of the potential of crypto-asset continue to rise for the institutional investors and many of them are ready to take action.

Cryptocurrency market total capitalization continues to rise. It currently stands at $1.3 trillion+, up from the last ‘17-‘18 bull run high of $800 billion+. However, it’s significantly down from this bull run’s high of $2.5 trillion+ achieved in the month of May 2021. Fidelity Digital Assets survey indicates that Asian institutional investors have a more favorable opinion of crypto assets. On the other hand, their American and European counterparts are quickly catching up. 

Fidelity digital asset's press release also lists the most troubling parts of crypto-assets investments. Their price volatility is arguably not a bug by default and expectation of mature infrastructure around crypto-assets. Institutional investors also seek better custodial solutions, security, analytics, and trading services before they begin their journey.