The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) plans to launch euro-denominated micro bitcoin and ether futures on March 18, according to a statement released Tuesday.
Pending regulatory review, the expansion of its cryptocurrency derivatives offering is set to follow the launch of its U.S. dollar-denominated micro bitcoin futures contracts in May 2021 and micro ether futures in December 2021. CME previously announced the launch of regular euro-denominated bitcoin and ether futures contracts in August 2022. It also offers bitcoin and ether options products.
Similar to their U.S. dollar-denominated counterparts, the micro bitcoin euro and micro ether euro futures contracts will be one-tenth the size of the respective underlying assets — aimed at providing a cost-effective way to gain bitcoin and ether exposure.
“Global investors have sought more precise tools to manage their risk as interest for bitcoin and ether grows. As such, we have seen a four-fold increase in volume in our USD-denominated micro bitcoin and micro ether futures,” CME Group Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products Giovanni Vicioso said in the statement.
Although U.S. dollar contracts dominate the crypto futures market, CME Group sees an opportunity to provide its clients with additional products to hedge their bitcoin and ether exposure in the second-highest traded fiat currency.
“Year-to-date, 24% of bitcoin and ether futures volume at CME Group has been transacted from the EMEA region, and we continue to develop additional tools for clients there to hedge their crypto portfolios and express or take a view on potential market moves,” Vicioso added.
The CME was among the first to offer a bitcoin futures product, launching on Dec. 17, 2017, seven days after the Cboe’s initial foray, and has since become one of the top venues in the crypto derivatives space.
CME open interest and trading volume on the rise
Last month, bitcoin futures open interest on the CME hit an all-time high of $5.2 billion, with trading volume for the month also reaching a record $108.3 billion — the highest level since October 2021, according to The Block’s data dashboard.
Ether futures open interest and trading volume also reached multi-month highs of $731.6 million and $23.4 billion, respectively in January. However, the metrics remain more than 30% below the peak set in November 2021.
Micro bitcoin and ether futures also witnessed a surge in January, with average daily volumes growing 43% versus December, the CME Group said.
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