The week-old bitcoin futures contract at the Cboe was last trading at $18,890, up 4.3 percent. Spot bitcoin eased 1.9 percent on the Bitstamp exchange to $18,650, after surging to a record high of $19,666 on Sunday. The launch of bitcoin futures is viewed as a major step in the digital currency's path toward legitimacy, which should encourage the entry of big institutional investors. "We saw a nice open on light volume, but pretty uneventful so far," Spencer Bogart, partner at Blockchain Capital LLC, said shortly after trading began on Sunday. "This is a brand-new asset class and I think perhaps a lot of investors want to sit back and see how this plays out before dipping their toes in this market." Volume on CME was recently at 590 contracts. On its debut on Dec. 10, the Cboe traded nearly 4,000 contracts during the full session.