CME Group, the world’s largest futures exchange, is launching Ethereum futures contracts. The move comes as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization continues to gain mainstream adoption.
The Chicago-based exchange announced the news on Thursday, saying that the contracts will be cash-settled and based on the Ethereum Reference Rate (ETH/USD), which CME Group launched in February.
Ethereum futures will trade on the CME Globex electronic trading platform and will be available for trading from 8:00 a.m. CT on Sunday, February 28. Trading hours for ETH futures will be from 8:00 a. – 4:00 p.
m. CT, with a one-minute break each day between 4:00 – 4:01 p. CT.
To mitigate potential manipulation of the ETH reference rate, CME Group is implementing a new methodology developed with Crypto Facilities Ltd., which uses volume-weighted median prices from a diverse set of exchanges during a one-hour calculation window. This methodology will become effective on Sunday, February 28 at 8:00 a.
“The Ethereum community has been asking for our involvement and we’re responder to that demand,” said Tim McCourt, Global Head of Equity Index & Alternative Investment Products at CME Group in a statement. “Our Ether-Dollar Reference Rate and Real-Time Index are designed to meet the evolving needs of this marketplace.”
In order to trade ETH futures on CME Globex, customers must be eligible contract participants with an account at a clearing member firm of CME Group and must have cleared through their account an initial margin deposit in accordance with CME Rulebook Chapter 5 – Margin Requirements (the “Cboe Rulebook”). For additional information regarding eligibility criteria, please refer to the Cboe Rulebook or contact your broker-dealer or clearing firm if you have any questions regarding your eligibility to trade ETH futures products on CME Globex.
If you are not an eligible contract participant or do not have an account at a clearing member firm of CME Group, you may still be able to trade ETH futures through an authorized participant (AP) of Cboe Futures Exchange (CFE), if such AP is offering trading in ETH futures products pursuant to CFTC Regulation 1.3(ggg)(1)(A).
You should contact your broker-dealer or financial intermediary if you have any questions regarding your ability to trade ETH futures products through an authorized participant of CFE. Please note that APs are not required to offer trading in all classes of underlying interests traded on their respective exchanges and that APs may discontinue offering trading in any class of underlying interest at any time without prior notice to their customers.”.
Ethereum’s rise in popularity has been fueled by the success of decentralized applications (dApps) built on its blockchain network. The most popular dApp built on Ethereum is Cryptokitties, which allows users to buy, sell, and breed digital cats.
The launch of Ethereum futures contracts by CME Group is another sign that cryptocurrencies are gaining mainstream adoption. With the addition of Ethereum futures, investors now have a way to hedge their exposure to the cryptocurrency or speculate on its price movements without actually owning any Ether tokens.