CME says crypto structured products will become more popular amid institutional interest

Cryptocurrency structured products will become more popular as wholesale institutional interest continues to expand, Tim McCourt, the global head of Equity Index and Alternative Investment Products at CME Group (NASDAQ:CME), said during a panel discussion at CoinDesk's Consensus 2022 festival. Note that CME (CME) first started offering crypto derivative products in 2017 for investors to gain exposure to cryptos like bitcoin (BTC-USD) and ethereum (ETH-USD) without actually owning the physical tokens. Looking at who's participating with CME's (CME) crypto derivatives, "it's a very balanced participation," McCourt said. "We're seeing some banks, we're seeing asset managers, we're seeing hedge funds, we're seeing retail participation, we're seeing the professional community like prop trading firms and market makers, so it's a very balanced ecosystem that has manifested at CME." McCourt added that "there are some anomalies so to speak about the participation in our cryptocurrency contracts at CME, particularly when you look at