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Where can I trade BTC FUTURES, and what are margin amounts
1) where (broker) can I trade BTC (BitCoin) futures and what is the necessary starting capital (margin) and required margin maintenance ? Every trade enters with 2 contracts (simultaneously) but with different targets. My platform is NinjaTrader 7 and I use for my trading (BTC futures) my fully automatic strategy (coded by me). This strategy is extremely profitable. I exclude NinjaTrader brokerage for other reasons.
2) Collective 2 demands $400K (!!!) for such a trade (I have written proofs about this demand). This is an astronomical margin. I dont know why these guys are doing this (BTW I have bad experience with these guys - they dont tell the truth).
3) Is there any other company (like Collective 2) via which I can do the above trading for BTC futures ?
4) I am a trader && Trading systems developer for more than 20 years.
Any reply will be much appreciated.
Thank you.
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
You can trade BTC futures through probably any broker that trades on CME, ICE and/or CBOE. I don't know where your account is located or where you want it to be located, but look around. TradeStation here in the US offers BTC futures contracts on various exchanges.
vmodus
Thank you for your reply. I have to say that not any broker offers BTC futures trading. I found only 2 as of today.
By the way, does anybody have any experience about this Collective 2 ? It seems to me they are liers, unproffessional and probably scams. They do not reply to emails (sometimes you have to wait more than 10 days for a reply) and definetely they do not even apologize for their mistakes. I definitely do not recommend them.
Trading: Primarily Energy but also a little Equities, Fixed Income, Metals and Crypto.
Frequency: Many times daily
Duration: Never
Posts: 5,049 since Dec 2013
Thanks Given: 4,388
Thanks Received: 10,207
Finding a Broker to clear CME Bitcoin (contract size 5 coins) is a lot easier than ICE Bitcoin (contract size 1 coin). The three brokers I know best (Advantage, ED&F, FC Stone) all clear CME but I think only ED&F clear ICE. Of course these are all institutional or large prop trader FCMs and not primarily retail focused so that may be why they offer it.
Margin on both is 37% of notional. So with Bitcoin at $9,400 a CME contract is $47,000 notional so $17,390 in margin. ICE would be a fifth of that or $3,478.
Liquidity is a lot better on CME than ICE but I personally think the ICE contract is a better contract since a) it offers better physical delivery versus CME's financial settlement and b) CME doesn't have implication switched on, so if your trading anything other than prompt month your probably trading with an Algo that is arbing you for a profit.
thank you very much for your valuable reply.
As a retail trader, trading 2 contracts/trade via my NinjaTrader NT7 platform (CQG data provider for BTC futures), do you think that Philips may be another alternative ?
Currently, I am trading (with my NT7) BTC futures (2 contracts) on CME. I wonder if I can easily change to ICE with lower margin ($3,478 X 2) and, if yes, how?
Another thing I am looking at is if and where (Brokers - Clearing Firms) can I trade STRBTC and/or WTCBTC futures ?
Many thanks again.
You are talking crypto currency pairs here, so you should be looking at an alt-coin broker/exchange. I am not aware of any major broker that does those pairs, even Bitstamp, which is one of the largest crypto exchanges.
Most alt-coin brokers exchanges offer and support MT4, but I don't know any that support NT7/8. If you don't mind learning a new platform, that is the way to go, to trade the alt-coins. Personally I only trust Bitstamp, and then not completely. Two of the exchanges I have used in the past are now gone, so just beware. Coindesk.com is a good source for alt-coin news and information.
Trading: Primarily Energy but also a little Equities, Fixed Income, Metals and Crypto.
Frequency: Many times daily
Duration: Never
Posts: 5,049 since Dec 2013
Thanks Given: 4,388
Thanks Received: 10,207
The three brokers that I am sure clear ICE Bitcoin are ED&F, Philips and Wedbush. I know this because all three of them have taken positions to physical delivery.
The margin rates as a percentage of notional are the same, the difference is in the size of contracts. CME is a 5 coin contract while ICE is a 1 coin contract. Hence in order to have equal positions you would need to trade 10 ICE contracts to be equivalent to your 2 CME contracts.
