CME Group is going to provide a real time Ethereum price listing, according to a company press release.
The new information will be released on the CME Group Market Data Platform beginning on the 4th of June 2018. It will be offering this via a partnership with Crypto Facilities, which is a cryptocurrency Trading Platform based in London.
The price listing will be official called the 'Ether-Dollar Reference Rate'. It will be calculated by Crypto Facilities based on data gathered from Kraken and Bitstamp, which are major cryptocurrency exchanges based in the US and Luxembourg respectively.
CME Group is a Chicago-based financial company that owns and operates financial derivatives exchanges in Chicago and New York. It has a market capitalisation of $54.6 billion.
The firm was in the news late last year because of its groundbreaking decision to offer trading on futures contracts based on Bitcoin. CME Group is the world's largest futures exchange and the new service caused the price of Bitcoin to jump to $8,250.
Crypto Facilities offers cryptocurrency price information to financial institutions - on its website can be found the prices of Bitcoin, Ripple (XRP) and Ethereum vs the US dollar. The price of Ripple is additionally listed against Bitcoin. It also offers a platform for customers to trade cryptocurrency futures with up to 50:1 leverage. Accounts can be funded with Bitcoin and XRP. The company is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Tim McCourt of CME Group said: "The Ether Reference Rate and Real Time Index are designed to meet the evolving needs of this marketplace. Providing price transparency and a credible price reference source is a key development for users of Ethereum."
Timo Schlaefer, CEO of Crypto Facilities, said: "Ether, the second largest cryptocurrency, experienced incredible adoption and growth in 2017, evolving into the leading Blockchain for smart contracts. We are excited to be contributing to the strong community that has developed around the Ethereum network by providing a reliable reference rate and real-time Ether-Dollar price."
