CME Group, a leading derivatives marketplace, today announced plans to further expand its offer of cryptocurrency derivatives with the introduction of EUR-denominated Bitcoin and Ether futures on Monday, August 29, pending regulatory review.
Designed to match their Counterparties denominated in US dollarsBitcoin Euro and Ether Euro futures will be sized at five bitcoins and 50 ethers per contract.
New contracts are settled in cash, based on the CME CF Bitcoin-Euro benchmark rate and the CME CF Ether-Euro benchmark rate, which serve as daily measures of the EUR-denominated price of BTC and ETH.
“Euro-denominated cryptocurrencies are the second most traded fiat behind the US dollar. Year-to-date, EMEA accounts for 28% of total Bitcoin and Ether futures contracts traded, up more than 5% from 2021.”
– Tim McCourt, Global Head of Equity and Currency Products, CME Group
In the second quarter, CME Group’s cryptocurrency segment saw a record average daily open interest of 106.2,000 contracts. This was the second highest quarter ever in average daily volume (57.4,000 contracts) for all crypto products. Similarly, Ether futures hit a record average daily volume (6.6,000 contracts) in Q2, up 27% from Q1.