CME Group's Crypto Contracts See 180% ADV Rise in January, Exchange Eyes Bitcoin Friday Futures Options

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group (CME) has revealed that in the first month of the year, its crypto contracts saw an average daily volume (ADV) of 198,000 with a notional value of $13.6 billion.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has announced impressive figures for its crypto contracts in January, revealing an average daily volume (ADV) of 198,000 with a notional value of $13.6 billion.

In a press release on Tuesday, the CME stated that its cryptocurrency ADV surged 180% year-over-year, driven by a 255% increase in micro bitcoin (BTC) futures and a 223% jump in micro ether (ETH) futures contracts.

The exchange offers both full-sized and micro contracts for bitcoin and ether, with notional values of 5 BTC and 50 ETH, respectively. However, the micro contracts represent only 0.1 of each cryptocurrency, facilitating more precise trading and risk management due to their smaller size.

In addition to these contracts, the CME also provides traders with options on bitcoin and ether contracts, enabling more complex strategies to adjust their risk exposure precisely.

Options contracts grant traders the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell cryptocurrency futures at a specified price on or before a particular date.

The futures exchange reported a total ADV of 25.7 million contracts in January.

Last week, the CME Group announced plans to introduce options on Bitcoin Friday Futures (BFF) from Feb. 24, subject to regulatory approval.