Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

IMO the point is that futures as a derivatives are for more sophisticated traders, they're less frequently used by retail traders or in a personal pension accounts. And anyway they're regulated by CFTC and out of the SEC's mandate. The investment objectives of the futures are trading profits, speculation, and hedging.

ETFs to the contrary are much more popular by retail traders and frequently used in a personal pension accounts. The investment objectives of the ETFs are preservation of the capital, income, and growth.

So the issue of the easily manipulated spot price is less problematic for derivatives/futures, and much more problematic for securities/equities/ETFs.

CFTC has the mandate to prevent manipulations in the underlying spot markets for any derivatives traded in US. The fact the CME (and other exchanges) introduced Bitcoin futures, put CFTC in charge of the spot markets too.



Not sure people are margin trading Ultra VIX and 3x bull ETFs for capital preservation and growth in their personal pension accounts…

ETFs are funds that trade like stocks. That’s basically it.


I omitted this for brevity, but you're right.

Yes, stocks and other exchange traded products like ETFs (especially their leveraged and short verities) can also be used for trading profits as an investment objective. That what pros and retail day traders are doing. But I doubt lots of people day trading in their personal pension accounts.




Consider applying for YC's Summer 2026 batch! Applications are open till May 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: