- CME Group is going to expand its cryptocurrency offerings by adding new choices to its standard and micro-sized Bitcoin and Ether contracts.
- The change is intended to give market players greater precision and variety in managing short-term Bitcoin and Ether price risk.
On 17 April, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group announced that it would expand its cryptocurrency offerings by adding new choices to its standard and micro-sized Bitcoin [BTC] and Ether [ETH] contracts. These new contracts will be accessible from 22 May, subject to regulatory approval. Moreover, the expiries will be available every business day from Monday to Friday.
CME Group’s extended range of cryptocurrency options will include additional expiry dates for Bitcoin and Ether futures contracts, according to the release. These options will now expire daily from Monday to Friday, giving traders more flexibility in managing short-term price risks.
In addition, options on micro-sized Bitcoin and Ether futures contracts will now have Tuesday and Thursday expiries in addition to the existing Monday, Wednesday, and Friday contracts. These new expiries will be added to the existing monthly and quarterly expiries available across all Bitcoin and Ether options on futures contracts.
According to the CME Group, the change is intended to give market players greater precision and variety in managing short-term Bitcoin and Ether price risk. It also comes at a time when market volatility in the digital asset industry is at an all-time high.
Through Q1 2023, CME Group’s Bitcoin and Ether futures and options complex have already attained a daily average notional of more than $3 billion. This indicates that client demand for liquid hedging tools is increasing. Other trading achievements for the complex included a record 11,500 contracts and open interest for Bitcoin futures and options in Q1 2023, with a record average of 24,094 contracts.
CME’s BTC and ETH trading volumes increase
Furthermore, trading volumes in CME Group’s Bitcoin and Ether futures and options have increased, with a record 2,357 Bitcoin options contracts traded on March 22 and a record open interest (OI) of 14,700 contracts on March 31.
In December 2017, the CME Group launched its first BTC futures contract, followed by an ETH futures contract in February 2021. To meet the growing demand for cryptocurrency investment opportunities, the exchange expanded its offerings to include micro BTC and ETH futures in 2022.
Furthermore, while the euro was trading at parity with the US dollar, it released euro-denominated BTC and ETH futures, which are currently at around $1 per euro at the time of writing.
At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $29,779.14 and Ethereum was trading at $2,101.69.
