Interactive Brokers (IBKR) to Allow Short Positions in Bitcoin Futures

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: IBKR) will now accept orders for short sales of Cboe Futures Exchange (CFE) Bitcoin futures that began trading on the IBKR platform on Sunday, December 10, 2017. Interactive Brokers requires margin of $40,000 per contract for short sales in CFE Bitcoin futures. Margin on long positions of CFE Bitcoin futures is currently $9,000.

“The introduction of short sales was necessitated by the large premium of the January futures contract over the price at which Bitcoin trades on the physical venues,” said Interactive Brokers founder, Chairman and CEO Thomas Peterffy.

Interactive Brokers requires customers who wish to trade Bitcoin futures to execute a special agreement acknowledging the risk inherent in the contract. Current and new clients can learn more about trading Bitcoin futures with IBKR and sign up for “Crypto” trading permission here.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Bitcoin contract, expected to start trading December 18, 2017, is based on five Bitcoins and will accordingly have a margin requirement of five times the CFE’s contract, which is based upon a single Bitcoin. The CFE contract trades under the symbol GXBT. The CME’s Bitcoin futures will trade under the symbol BRR.

IBKR was one of only a few brokers offering Bitcoin futures at the start of trading December 10. The company has handled approximately 50% of the volume since trading commenced.

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