International derivatives market CME Group announced today that it plans to further expand its cryptocurrency derivatives offering with the addition of Micro Bitcoin Euro and Micro Ether Euro futures on March 18, pending regulatory review.
“Global investors have sought more accurate tools to manage their risk as interest in bitcoin and ether grows. As a result, we have seen a fourfold increase in the volume of our USD-denominated Micro Bitcoin and Micro Ether futures,” said Giovanni Vicioso, Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products at CME Group.
“The launch of these new Euro Micro contracts will offer clients additional products to more effectively hedge bitcoin and ether’s exposure to the second highest traded fiat after US dollar-based contracts. Year-to-date, 24% of Bitcoin and Ether futures volume at CME Group has come from the EMEA region, and we continue to develop additional tools for clients there to hedge crypto portfolios and express or receive opinion for possible market movements.”
Designed to match their US dollar counterparts, the Micro Bitcoin Euro and Micro Ether Euro futures will be one-tenth the size of their respective underlying cryptocurrencies. These new futures contracts will be introduced and subject to CME rules.
CME Group’s suite of cryptocurrency products continues to provide consistent liquidity, volume and open interest for clients seeking to hedge risk or gain exposure to the asset class.
January was a record month in terms of average daily volume (71,000 contracts) across all cryptocurrency products. Additionally, the average daily open interest in Bitcoin and Ether futures reached all-time highs for the month (23.5K contracts and 6K contracts, respectively). Micro Bitcoin and Micro Ether futures also saw a surge in trading, with average daily volume up 43% compared to December 2023.