> When the futures clear, you basically end up with dollars, which is odd to an extend as a future in oil will literally give you oil once it clears.
Futures come in two types: physically settled and financially settled. Physical means the owner at expiration receives the product (in this case BTC). Financial means the owner at expiration receives the quote currency (in this case USD). Many futures contracts are financially settled, usually in the national currency where they are traded.
It would be possible to write physically settled BTC contracts, but that would be more complex for CME to implement (they'd need brokers to manage flows of cryptocurrency), and would be a less differentiated offering compared to existing cash exchanges.
Futures come in two types: physically settled and financially settled. Physical means the owner at expiration receives the product (in this case BTC). Financial means the owner at expiration receives the quote currency (in this case USD). Many futures contracts are financially settled, usually in the national currency where they are traded.
It would be possible to write physically settled BTC contracts, but that would be more complex for CME to implement (they'd need brokers to manage flows of cryptocurrency), and would be a less differentiated offering compared to existing cash exchanges.