Cryptocurrencies provide a unique opportunity to identify how derivatives impact spot markets. They are fully fungible, trade across multiple spot exchanges at different prices, and futures contracts were selectively introduced on bitcoin (BTC) exchange rates against the USD in December 2017....

We exploit a unique feature of cryptocurrency markets to provide new evidence on how derivatives impact cash markets. In December 2017, the CME Group and CBOE Global Markets both introduced futures contracts on bitcoin (BTC) against USD, but not on any other cryptocurrency exchange rate pairs....

Cryptocurrencies provide a unique opportunity to identify how derivatives impact spot markets. They are fully fungible, trade across multiple spot exchanges at different prices, and futures contracts were selectively introduced on bitcoin (BTC) exchange rates against the USD in December 2017....