The latest addition to our Cryptocurrency product suite is here, Bitcoin Friday futures (BFF). This smaller-sized, weekly, Friday-settled contract provides unparalleled cost efficiency and flexibility for your crypto trading strategies:

• Greater accessibility with a smaller contract
  BFF, sized at 1/50 of a bitcoin, allows you to trade with greater precision.
• More flexibility with shorter durations
  BFF expires each Friday, enabling it to closely track the spot price of bitcoin and mitigate weekend risk.
• Efficiently capture market moves during U.S. trading hours
  BFF expires every Friday at 4:00 p.m. ET, based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate New York Variant, so you can seamlessly access the rising liquidity of the U.S. cryptocurrency market.

In the first 24 hours since launch, 31,498 BFF contracts were traded (nearly $40M notional), making it the most successful Crypto futures launch in CME Group history. Read about trading highlights from day one in our press release.

Average daily volume (ADV) in our Crypto suite has grown by +250% vs. Q3 2023, reaching a new high of 104K contracts ($5.8B notional). Futures were a record ADV of 102.1 ($5.7B) and average OI of 110.1K. In early August, market volatility drove record trading volumes, which then subsided in September. However, this period still led to the highest-ever usage of our risk management tools over the quarter.

Cryptocurrency futures and options
ADV: 104K contracts, $5.8B notional
Open interest: 143K contracts, $12.6B notional

*Indicates record performance

As market volatility surged mid-way through the quarter, so did interest in our Cryptocurrency futures and options as participants turned to our round-the-clock liquidity to hedge bitcoin and ether exposure. Crypto futures and options continued to deliver liquidity when it mattered most, driving significant trading across non-U.S. hours during the week of August 5, 2024.

In partnership with CF Benchmarks, we now offer robust pricing on XRP and ICP. The new benchmarks are calculated by aggregating trade flow of major cryptocurrency spot exchanges and trading platforms.

• CME CF Internet Computer-Dollar (ICPUSD_RR and ICPUSD_RTI) 
• CME CF XRP-Dollar (XRPUSD_RR and XRPUSD_RTI)

CME CF Reference Rates for Chainlink, Polygon, Solana and XRP are now available against the New York variant, published daily at 4:00 p.m. New York time, providing better alignment for the U.S. cryptocurrency market. 

• CME CF Chainlink-Dollar Reference Rate New York (LINKUSD_NY)
• CME CF Polygon-Dollar Reference Rate New York (MATICUSD_NY)
• CME CF Solana-Dollar Reference Rate New York (SOLUSD_NY)
• CME CF XRP-Dollar Reference Rate New York (XRPUSD_NY)

Now with 24 cryptocurrencies, our suite of CME CF Reference Rates and Real-Time Indices provide pricing data across more than 93% of the investible cryptocurrency market capitalization.

Our Ether (ETH) futures achieved record open interest on the first day of spot Ether ETF trading in the U.S. on July 23, with 7,661 contracts (383K equivalent ether or $1.3B notional value). This demonstrated the significant demand for risk management tools and underscores the unparalleled liquidity that ETH futures provides for participants. Ether futures averaged a record open interest of 6.7K contracts, equivalent to over 335K ether. Micro Ether (MET) futures traded a record 38.8K contracts, worth $10.7M notional, each day throughout the quarter. 

Source: CME Group. Data as of September 30, 2024 unless otherwise indicated.

LOIH: A Cryptocurrency futures LOIH is defined as any entity that holds at least 25 contracts of the respective futures.