The Chicago Board of Exchange (CBOE) started trading Bitcoin futures (XBT) on 10th December, and despite some technical hitches, this has had a substantial impact on its value. This was largely due to the second launch on 17th December by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), which temporarily pushed up the price to over $20,000.

In normal commodities trading, a futures contract represents an undertaking to buy or sell something, be it pork bellies, apples or cyber currency, on a certain date and at a predetermined price. It\'s pure speculation on whether the value of the asset will rise or fall during the contract period, with the point being to reward whichever party most accurately predicts the asset\'s future value.

The CME predict a steady rise in the market value of Bitcoin back up to the $20,000 level in 2018, but in any event, 2017 has already seen a vast surge in its value. The inclusion of a cyber currency as a tradeable commodity suggests that some members of the financial community are prepared to take it seriously. In fact, there is already some speculation that the mainstream banking community will be taking cryptocurrencies on board in the near future.