Consultation on demising the indices of the Ripple Bitcoin Pair now open

The consultation on the proposed demising of the CF Ripple-Bitcoin Settlement Price and CF Ripple Bitcoin Spot Rate, members of the CF Cryptocurrency Index Family, is now open

Proposed Date of Implementation

The Administrator proposes to demise both benchmarks at 1630 London time on February 11th. This means that the CF Ripple-Bitcoin Settlement Price published on February 11^th 2021 will be the final value for this benchmark whilst the final value for the CF Ripple Bitcoin Spot Rate shall be published at 1630 on February 11th 2021.

Rationale

The Administrator proposes to demise these indices for commercial reasons due to the lack of interest in licensing the benchmarks.

Likely Impacts

The proposed demising of the indices mean market participants shall have to seek alternative benchmarks for this market. The Administrator is not aware of any benchmarks registered under EU BMR for this market.

Consultation Process

The consultation for all aspects of this proposed change and its proposed date of implementation will close at 1600 LDN on February 5th, 2021. All responses will be treated in confidence unless a respondent specifies that it wishes its identity to be known to the Administrator.

Further to general comments the Administrator will seek to understand from index users what the likely impacts could be in vis a vis:

Timeframe of Proposed Change
Whether the proposed change allows market participants to make the necessary arrangements to potentially source alternatives

Financial Impact of Proposed Change
The financial value of contracts, instruments, funds that directly reference or are settled according to the benchmark that shall be impacted by the proposed change.

Market Impact of Proposed Change
The number of counterparties and types of counterparties that could be adversely impacted and the scale of the disruption they would face as a result of the proposed change.

Submission of Responses

All responses should be submitted in writing via email to [email protected]. All responses will be treated in confidence unless a respondent specifies that it wishes its identity to be known to the Administrator.

Should the consultation result in the Administrator not implementing any of the proposed changes or the implementation date being changed then this and any further shall be announced by the Administrator.

Any queries regarding the consultation process should be addressed to [email protected]