It has often been said that bitcoin may reach the $10,000 milestone by the end of the year. While many speculated that this isn’t possible, the digital currency has recently hit the $9,000 milestone, and set a new all-time high.

The year of 2017 has been incredibly positive for bitcoin, considering the fact that its value multiplied 9 times, from $800-$1,000, to over $9,000.

While trading bitcoin at this moment in time is fairly easy, there are still a multitude of issues that traders have to deal with. However, the digital currency has managed to get more mainstream credibility considering the fact that the world’s largest futures exchange recently announced the launch of a pair of indexes, meant to track the price of the digital currency.

Based on this, these gauges, released by the CME Group Inc. could actually be used later on as building blocks for a variety of futures contracts, which would make it considerably easier for individuals and professional investors to engage in bitcoin trading. According to Daniel masters, the CIO at Global Advisors Lth, and who happens to manage around $25 million worth of assets in bitcoin, these indexes are ‘clear precursors to a listing of some kind (…) There is tremendous pent-up demand in the U.S. for bitcoin exposure that doesn’t require an investor to select one of the current bitcoin exchanges in order to invest.”

During the last couple of months, there has been an increase in the activity of trading bitcoin, which is essential for the development of the digital currency. According to recent reports, it seems like the CME Group, which has reportedly been looking for ways to strengthen their digital foothold, will begin publishing bitcoin market prices, updated in real time.