The first-ever US coffee futures contract – Facebook
Facebook is offering to trade a $1 billion US coffee contract that was first unveiled in 2015.
The offer, which will be made on Wednesday and could become available for the public as soon as Thursday, is a joint venture between the Facebook and US futures exchange, the Nasdaq-100, according to Reuters.
Facebook is hoping to increase its stake in the futures market.
The contract will be a $5 billion USD investment from the US-based Facebook.
Facebook will be the sole holder of the contract and will own 50 percent of the exchange.
The US-listed Nasdaq futures contract will trade on the Nasco platform and be available to trade on both the Facebook Platform and Nasdaq, the website reported.
The exchange has also partnered with the New York Stock Exchange, which is offering the contract for trading on the NYSE and NYSE AM.
The Facebook partnership is a “game changer”, said Nasdaq president and chief executive officer John Gilder.
“Facebook is the leader in this space, and we’re proud to partner with them,” he said.
“It is a game changer for our futures market because we have a huge amount of capital in this area.
It will allow Facebook to take advantage of the vast amount of liquidity that the exchange has.”
The Facebook offer is expected to raise at least $10 billion for Facebook.
In February, Facebook said it was buying back about $8 billion worth of its shares to shore up its share price, as it was in the midst of a price correction.
In the lead-up to the Facebook acquisition, investors were worried that the social network would be sold, as the firm was expected to go public.
The Nasdaq is a virtual marketplace for trading futures contracts and options on publicly traded companies.
Facebook is seeking to become a dominant player in the space, which currently has just two major exchanges.
The company’s new partnership with Nasdaq could help it take the next step in the market.
