(Kitco News) - CME Group continues to show its intention to become a global leader in the realm of cryptocurrency futures trading with Monday’s rollout of Euro-denominated Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) futures.
According to a statement from Tim McCourt, Global Head of Equity and FX Products at CME Group, the new futures products are designed to give institutional investors another option to acquire the top two cryptos in a regulated manner.
“Our new Bitcoin Euro and Ether Euro futures will provide institutional clients, both within and outside the U.S., with more precise and regulated tools to trade and hedge exposure to the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap,” McCourt said.
These are not the first cryptocurrency-related products being offered by CME Group, which has been wading deeper into the world of digital assets in recent months. Just last week, it was revealed that the leading global derivatives marketplace intends to launch options for trading Ether futures beginning Sept. 12.
CME Group has been involved with crypto derivatives since the launch of its original Bitcoin futures contract in December 2017, and has expanded its list of supported products to include Bitcoin options trading as well as “micro-sized Bitcoin and Ether options.”
These new products are CME Group’s first Euro-denominated cryptocurrency derivatives. “The launch of these new futures contracts builds on the strong growth and deep liquidity we have seen in our existing U.S. dollar-denominated Bitcoin and Ether futures contracts,” McCourt said in the press release announcing their launch.
The Bitcoin Euro contracts will be sized at five Bitcoin per contract, while Ether Euro contracts will be sized at 50 Ether per contract. “These new contracts will be cash-settled, based on the CME CF Bitcoin-Euro Reference Rate and CME CF Ether-Euro Reference Rate, which serve as once-a-day reference rates of the euro-denominated price of bitcoin and ether,” the statement said.
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CME Group first announced its intention to launch Euro-denominated Bitcoin and Ether futures contracts just one month ago amid increased global demand for regulated, non-USD cryptocurrency derivatives. Their rapid deployments are also a sign that the groups' crypto-related activities are ramping up despite the continued weakness in the cryptocurrency market.
In Q2 2022, CME Group recorded its highest average daily open interest at 106,200 contracts and saw its second highest quarter ever in terms of average daily volume with 57,400 contracts across all cryptocurrency products.
