The Roller Coaster Ride of BTC/USD

BTC/USD has extended its losses and declined below $240, now testing the next support level of $230 on Coindesk BPI. The price zone of $230 to $240 has acted as the base for the virtual currency sharp jump to over $300 early in the week. The sharp rally was due to the launch of Coinbase Bitcoin exchange platform. However, the jump in prices was short-lived as the prices retreated back to $260 soon after the launch.

Coinbase launched its Bitcoin exchange at the start of this week. It allowed users to access the open market through their Coinbase account. It even announced no trading fees for the users until March 30, 2015. The facility is available in only 24 U.S. states that are supported by its USD wallet.

Paul Chou, ex-Goldman Sachs trader, is planning to start a new Bitcoin derivatives exchange titled as ‘Ledger X.’ It will be a service that could assists Bitcoin derivatives to trade on a fully regulated platform. Chou has filed the registration papers with the CFTC. As of now, CFTC has requested the public comments on the matter of the LedgerX submission.

If the CFTC approves the registration, Ledger X will become the first ‘federally regulated’ BTC/USD derivatives exchange for institutional members in the U.S. It will also act as the regulated Bitcoin options platform. A federally regulated Bitcoin derivatives exchange will encourage the big financial institutions to become a part of Bitcoin industry.

Ledger X has acquired venture funding from Google Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners to add legitimacy to the Bitcoin derivatives market. As per the reports, Jim Newsome, former CEO of NYMEX, and former chairman of the CFTC is one the directors of LedgerX board.

LedgerX has also applied for the registration of derivatives clearing organization and swap execution facility with the CFTC.

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