Reports suggest CME Group could be looking to expand portfolio with Bitcoin trading

CHICAGO-based CME Group is reportedly planning to expand its already massive portfolio by launching Bitcoin trading.

The financial behemoth, which comprises of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chacago Board of Trade, New York Mercantile Exchange and The Commodity Exchange, is understood to have been holding talks with traders who want to operate on a regulated market buying and selling Bitcoin.

The apparent plans of the world's largest futures exchange operator were reported by the Financial Times earlier today, with the newspaper citing three well-placed sources.

More than a quarter of the S&P Dow Jones Indices is owned by CME Group - the world's largest operator of derivatives exchanges. CME's platforms are used for trading currency, agricultural products, interest rates, energy, metals, stock indexes, options, futures contracts, and cryptocurrency futures.

As well as its headquarters in Chicago, CME has major offices in London, New York, Houston, Washington, Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore, Belfast, Calgary and Bangalore.

The Digital Commonwealth approached the CME Group for a comment, but a spokesperson declined to respond.