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CME Micro Ether Futures Pass 500,000 Contracts Traded

Written by Shanny Basar | Jan 26, 2022 9:10:12 AM

CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, announced that Micro Ether futures volume surpassed 500,000 contracts on January 24.

https://twitter.com/CMEGroup/status/1486058797948887047

"The arrival of micro-sized contracts for both Bitcoin and Ether futures in 2021 has taken our cryptocurrency product offering to the next level," said  Tim McCourt, CME Group Global Head of Equity Index and Alternative Investment Products. "We're pleased with the early adoption and rapid growth of Micro Ether futures since their launch on December 6. These contracts are providing one more way for both financial institutions and sophisticated, active retail traders to gain exposure to digital assets through our liquid and trusted cryptocurrency derivatives markets."

Additionally, Micro Ether futures reached a new daily volume high of 51,450 contracts on January 24, with open interest of nearly 75,000 contracts.

CME Micro Ether futures are cash-settled, based on the CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate, which serves as a once-a-day reference rate of the U.S. dollar price of Ether. Micro Ether futures are listed on and subject to the rules of CME.

Equity Index futures and options 

CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, announced that its Equity Index futures and options complex reached a new, single-day trading volume record of 15,846,802 contracts on January 24, surpassing the prior record of 15,623,428 contracts set on February 28, 2020.

Additionally, Micro E-mini Equity Index futures reached a record 6,571,375 contracts traded on January 24, across all four indices – S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Russell 2000. This new high surpassed the prior record of 5,135,546 contracts on January 21, 2022.

"We're pleased with the record volume and participation in our Equity Index futures and options products, which enable clients to manage risk in our deeply liquid markets," said Tim McCourt, Global Head of Equity Index and Alternative Investment Products, CME Group. "In particular, we have seen consistently strong growth in our Micro E-mini Equity Index futures, which have become among the most actively traded equity index products at CME Group since their May 2019 launch. Their smaller size allows traders of all sizes the flexibility to execute equity trading strategies, scale index exposure up or down, or hedge existing equity portfolio positions, particularly ahead of market-moving events or during periods of market volatility."

Other volume records reached on January 24 include:

  • 3,044,472 Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures contracts
  • 2,518,822 Micro E-mini S&P 500 futures contracts
  • 536,616 Micro E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average futures contracts
  • 471,465 Micro E-mini Russell 2000 futures contracts
  • 31,937 Micro E-mini S&P 500 options contracts
  • 21,500 Adjusted Interest Rate Total Return futures contracts
  • 6,325 Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 options contracts
  • 1,070 Nasdaq-100 Volatility Index (VOLQ) futures contracts

For more information on CME Group's Micro E-mini Equity Index products, please see: www.cmegroup.com/microeminis.