CME CEO: Bitcoin is growing to be a safe haven like gold

• He made the comparison as BTC’s price has been increasing while equity markets are shaken.
• BTC has surged by over 30% in January alone (its best performance in the first month of the year since 2013).

In a recent interview for CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” Terry Duffy, said that he believes people are now “using bitcoin a lot like they’re using gold” – as a safe haven asset. Duffy is the CEO of the CME Group and he compared Bitcoin to gold as BTC’s price has been increasing while equity markets are shaken.

We’re seeing more and more people participate in bitcoin … I think it’s more of safe haven, similar to a gold trade.

This statement by the CEO comes as a response to a question regarding the performance of Bitcoin in January 2020. BTC has surged by over 30% in January alone (its best performance in the first month of the year since 2013). Several industry experts claim that Bitcoin’s value increased due to the outbreak of Coronavirus, which shook markets over its potential effect on economic growth.

According to a CryptoGlobe report, earlier this year, CME launched its options on Bitcoin futures and traded a total of 55 options contracts during the debut session. This is equivalent to about $2.33 million. Tim McCourt, global head of equity index products at the CME, had noted at the time that it “takes time to grow any new market.” 

Duffy also said that there has been organic growth in CME’s Bitcoin-related offerings and that the cryptocurrency ecosystem, as a whole, has been growing. In the past, Bloomberg analyst Mike McGlone had said that CME’s options on bitcoin futures are a “significant step in the direction of increasing exposure to bitcoin.”