The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is going to expand its crypto derivatives offerings and launch Micro Ether futures on Dec. 6, pending regulatory review.
Fast facts
- Micro Ether futures will be sized at 1/10th of one Ether, allowing access to a wide range of investors amid surging Ether prices, according to a press release. Ether reached an all-time high of US$$4,638.45 earlier today, according to CoinMarketCap data. The new contract will be cash-settled, based on the CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate, which works as a daily reference rate of the U.S. dollar price of Ether.
- “Since the launch of Ether futures in February, we have seen steady growth in liquidity in these contracts, especially among institutional traders,” said Tim McCourt, CME Group Global Head of Equity Index and Alternative Investment Products. “At the same time, the price of ether has more than doubled since these contracts were introduced, creating demand for a micro-sized contract to make this market even more accessible to a broader range of participants.”
- The CME group already has a number of crypto derivative products including Bitcoin and Ether futures. Over 675,500 CME Ether futures contracts have been traded since their launch in February. CME also launched a Micro Bitcoin futures product in May, which has traded over 2.7 million contracts to date.
