<p>Derivatives exchange giant CME Group has no current plans to offer physically-settled bitcoin futures contracts.</p> <p>Tim McCourt, global head of equity index and alternative investment products at CME, <a href="https://www.marketsmedia.com/cme-says-institutional-interest-in-bitcoin-is-growing/">told</a> that to Markets Media in an interview published Tuesday.</p> <p>CME recently <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/40440/cme-group-to-launch-bitcoin-options-in-q1-2020?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=default">announced</a> that it is going to launch bitcoin options contracts in Q1 of 2020, based on “increasing client demand” and “robust growth” in its bitcoin futures markets.</p> <p>“Since we launched bitcoin futures in December 2017, the number one demand from customers has been for options on our futures,” McCourt was quoted as saying in the interview, adding: “The institutional interest in bitcoin is growing but they need time to become familiar with the market and get approval to use new products.”</p> <p>Last week, Bakkt finally launched its physically-settled bitcoin futures contracts. But there has been a slow demand for the product in its first few days of trading as Bakkt is <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/daily/41291/bakkt-still-looking-to-sign-up-key-core-clients-after-first-week-of-futures-trading">still looking to sign up</a> several core clients. As <a href="https://www.theblockresearch.com/physically-delivered-bitcoin-future-contracts-are-imminent-but-the-bottleneck-now-lies-with-clients-34086?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=2019-09-22">reported by The Block</a> recently, some of its largest prospective clients still don’t have permission to trade physically-settled futures contracts.</p>