CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, has announced new options contracts for Bitcoin and Ether futures. These contracts will provide market participants with greater precision and versatility in managing short-term price risks. Giovanni Vicioso, CME Group Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products, stated that “Against a backdrop of heightened market volatility in the digital asset sector, we continue to see clients turn to a trusted, regulated venue like CME Group for reliable and efficient cryptocurrency risk management products.”
The new expiries for options on Bitcoin and Ether futures will be offered with Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday expirations. Options on micro-sized Bitcoin and Ether futures will add Tuesday and Thursday expiries to their existing Monday, Wednesday, and Friday contracts. All of these new offerings will complement the existing monthly and quarterly expiries available across all Bitcoin and Ether options on futures contracts.
CME Group’s Bitcoin and Ether futures and options complex has achieved a record daily average notional of more than $3 billion through Q1 2023, signifying an increase in client demand for liquid hedging tools. Paul Eisma, Head of Options Trading at XBTO, stated that “By completing the short end of the implied volatility surface with the addition of the new Tuesday, Thursday Micro options contracts and weekly standard size contracts, institutional market makers such as XBTO can deliver precise liquidity to market participants of all sizes who trade and hedge cryptocurrency exposures spanning every business day of the upcoming week for the first time.”
CME Group continues to innovate and lead in the institutional crypto options on futures market. The company aims to offer its clients the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products, and metals. The company offers futures and options on futures trading through the CME Globex® platform, fixed income trading via BrokerTec, and foreign exchange trading on the EBS platform. Additionally, it operates one of the world’s leading central counterparty clearing providers, CME Clearing.
For more information on cryptocurrency options, please visit: www.cmegroup.com/cryptooptionsfaq.