WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- Market speculators held net short position of Bitcoin futures for the week ending Nov. 12, according to a report from U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday.
Non-commercial investors, commonly treated as market speculators, held a net short position of 865 Bitcoin future contracts for the week ending Nov. 12.
Speculators and hedgers are different types of investors. Speculators try to make a profit from the assets' price volatility, whereas hedgers attempt to reduce or "hedge" the amount of risk created by price volatility during the holding period of the assets.
When investors "short" financial assets like currencies, commodities, options or futures, they hold a bearish view on the asset and believe in a coming drop in the price.
This week, the price of the cryptocurrency dropped to around 8,500 U.S. dollars, pushing its whole market value down to around 152.6 billion dollars, according to trading website "Coinbase."
Bitcoin futures, traded at Chicago Mercantile Exchange in the United States, are derivative financial contracts that obligate the parties to transact an underlying asset at a predetermined future date and price. The underlying asset of each Bitcoin future contract includes five Bitcoins.
The CFTC is an independent agency of the U.S. government. Established in 1974, it regulates futures and option markets, and posts weekly reports on the position of future contract holders to help the public understand market dynamics.
