Behind the move is a sharp narrowing in the profitability of the basis trade, in which traders attempt to capture a spread by buying spot bitcoin while selling BTC futures.
The largest U.S. bank is exploring spot and derivatives services for hedge funds and pensions as regulatory clarity improves, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
Even if quantum machines capable of breaking Bitcoin’s cryptography are decades away, the work required to update software, infrastructure and user behavior would be measured in years, not months.