On April 17, the derivatives exchange Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group announced that it will expand its range of cryptocurrency options by adding new options to its standard and micro-sized Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) contracts. Pending regulatory review, these new contracts will be available starting May 22 and expirations will be available every day of the business week Monday through Friday.
According to the announcement, CME Group’s expanded set of cryptocurrency options will include new expiration dates for Bitcoin and Ether futures contracts. These options will now expire every weekday, giving traders greater flexibility to manage short-term price risks. Additionally, options on micro-sized Bitcoin and Ether futures contracts will add Tuesday and Thursday expiries to your existing Monday, Wednesday, and Friday contracts. The newly added expiries will complement the existing monthly and quarterly expirations already available on all Bitcoin and Ether options in futures contracts.
The move, according to CME Group, is aimed at providing market participants with greater precision and versatility in managing short-term Bitcoin and Ether price risk. It also comes at a time of increased market volatility in the digital asset sector.
CME Group’s Bitcoin and Ether futures and options complex has already achieved a record average daily notional value of more than $3 billion through the first quarter of 2023. This means increased demand for liquid hedging tools from of customers. The complex also achieved other trading highlights, including a record 11,500 contracts and open interest with a record average 24,094 contracts for Bitcoin futures and options in Q1 2023. In addition, Bitcoin futures and options and CME Group Ether have increased trading volumes, with a record 2,357 Bitcoin options contracts traded on March 22 and a record open interest (OI) of 14,700 contracts on March 31.
Related: Bitcoin Sparks Selloffs As Analyst Says BTC Price May Drop A Further 12%
CME Group filed its first BTC futures contract in December 2017, followed by an ETH futures contract in February 2021. To meet the growing demand for cryptocurrency investment options, the exchange expanded its offerings in 2022 to include futures. of micro BTC and ETH. Additionally, it launched euro-denominated BTC and ETH futures when the euro was trading at par with the US dollar, which is currently worth around $1 per euro at the time of writing.
At press time, ETH price is at $2,085 and BTC price is at $29,503, falling below its previous high of $30,000.
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This post CME Group to Extend Bitcoin and Ether Option Expiries After Record Daily Volume
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