Derivatives exchange Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) will launch smaller-sized bitcoin futures contracts in May, potentially expanding the number of people who bet on the future price of the leading cryptocurrency.

• In an announcement on Tuesday, the CME said that the new contracts sized at one-tenth of one bitcoin will be available for trading on May 3 and will be cash-settled based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate.
• "The introduction of Micro Bitcoin futures responds directly to demand for smaller-sized contracts from a broad array of clients and will offer even more choice and precision in how participants can trade regulated bitcoin futures in a transparent and efficient manner at CME Group," Tim Court, CME Group global head of Equity Index and Alternative Investment Products, said in a press release.
• The micro futures will offer features and benefits of CME Group's standard bitcoin futures launched more than three years ago in 2017.
• The CME climbed ranks in the second half of 2020 and became the biggest bitcoin futures exchange as per open interest by the end of December in a sign of increased institutional participation. Recently, the exchange has slipped to the number four spot.
• A futures contract is a standardized legal agreement to buy or sell something at a predetermined price at a specified time in the future.